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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," 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."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly convert by a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice 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 league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive 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 gone on to reach the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.