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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips 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 off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.