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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded Phillips.

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

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

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs 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 final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.