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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comprehensive Win

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came back from the crossbar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Are Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.