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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.