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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could 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 means a lot to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This happy connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed great fight all game, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.