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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

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

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.