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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that aim 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 league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.