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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His happy association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several key players with that goal 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," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they almost got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.