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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"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 performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.