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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

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

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.