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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong 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 reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.