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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.