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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, 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 miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return 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 upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.