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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.