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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker 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 priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.