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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think 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. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Look Good

That made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.