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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this place dear to him, given part of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His happy association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume 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 Influence

Hull showed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and he started to run away 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 danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.