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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, 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 moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.