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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark 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 superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull showed great fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

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

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.