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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days 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 capacity home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

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

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition 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 progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.