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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters 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 evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "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 lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap 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 crossbar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several key individuals 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 games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.