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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. This happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several key individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong position in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was plenty of 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' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have progressed to reach the final. Much still work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.