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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice players with that aim in mind.

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

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when a substitute hit a post 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 Look Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.