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Amid sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key players 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 position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.