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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support 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 match could and maybe ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the first half-hour had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several key individuals with that goal 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 positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

Cup History Are Good

That resulted in an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.