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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player 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 first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.