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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong 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 nice to get a good welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. This happy connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The packed Hull crowd evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and he started to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to coolly convert past a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is still done in that respect, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.