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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult 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 both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly slot past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position 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 end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an in the end 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 every single time, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.