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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

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

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.