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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and maybe ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. 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 fight throughout, but the better opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward evening’s performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.