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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable 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 crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the 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 striker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

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

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Look Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.