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Amid sleet, flurries, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," 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 lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. This happy association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell to the visitors. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which came off the bar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass teed up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider once again delivered the crucial pass for the striker to calmly slot past a stranded goalkeeper.

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

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.