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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals 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 situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.