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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious chances to put their side ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed great fight throughout, but the better opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three assists. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the crucial ball for the striker to coolly convert past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

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

There was great effort to the end, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.