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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The application of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a commanding display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take 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 Response and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the better chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over 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 miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that aim 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," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.