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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home 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 perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.