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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.