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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This happy association continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform 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 good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.