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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Promising

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