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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned 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 next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.