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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. This happy association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key 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 situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.