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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening 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 the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players 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," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.