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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. This happy association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great fight throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.