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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap 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 started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

That made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.