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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came off 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 threat.

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

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key 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 very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.