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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.