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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, 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. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been decided earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great spirit all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice 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 very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup History Look Good

The result made for an in the end straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.