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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home support clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal 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," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.