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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, considering part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening 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 the forward's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.