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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong 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 reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

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

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key players 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 position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.