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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside 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 tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap 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 clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as Delap once again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.