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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His happy connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The match could and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely 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. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division 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 perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.