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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. This happy association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, 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 hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Look Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.