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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive connection continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came off the bar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. 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 showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.