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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice players 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," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.