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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. 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 final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.