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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.