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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity 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 XI. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the crossbar, and he started to run away believing 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 miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again played the crucial ball for the attacker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"I think 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 upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.