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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command 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 Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. 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 Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key 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 strong situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson 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 the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

That resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.