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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

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

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Are Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced 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 remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.