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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, 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 league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.