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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The application of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, given part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

That resulted in an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.