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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which came off the crossbar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.