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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed great fight all game, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key players 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 position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.