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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a difficult evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. 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.

Deadly Edge Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side handled the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, providing three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert past a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice 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. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.