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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.