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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.