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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, given some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The match could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over 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 moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.