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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m 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 both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved 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 good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.