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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This happy connection continued with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

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

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who rested several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed 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 Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.