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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side handled the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume command of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the bar, and Delap started to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. 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 regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.