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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight all game, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.