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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s work for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the display," the manager stated. "Hull City means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take command of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came off the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded 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 opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the first half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of key 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 situation in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows intimately.

Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is still work in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.