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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved 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 games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.