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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute 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 scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit throughout, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested 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. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Look Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.