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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This happy association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again played the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.