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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.