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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This positive association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice 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 position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Are Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.