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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced off the bar, and he began 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 immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key individuals with that goal in mind.

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

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.