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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate 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 hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.