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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side showed great fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.