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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again played the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players 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 very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.