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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult 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 fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Rosenior has this place dear to him, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from outside the box. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that aim in mind.

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

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.