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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, 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 could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match could and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.