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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key individuals 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 next games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.