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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Are Promising

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.