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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, 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 immensely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

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

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.