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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, 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 situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.