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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the better chances always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting 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 back from the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal 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 is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That resulted in an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.