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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, 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 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

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

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.