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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals 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 strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.