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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of 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 situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.