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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night'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. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

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

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear 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 first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals 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 situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.