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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and he 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 danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost 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 new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.