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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display 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 surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key 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 very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was 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 step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.