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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been settled long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Impact

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the clearer chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have broken the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the effort Hull had put in in the opening thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an in the end straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.