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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His happy connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the bar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.