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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the spark for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from 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 defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

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

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to reach the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.