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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.