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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good 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 final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.