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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

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

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.