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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed great fight throughout, but the better opportunities consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, providing three key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Are Good

The result made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. Much still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.