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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city dear to him, given some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. This happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd evidently felt it too, but the London side handled the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side showed great fight throughout, but the clearer chances consistently fell to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came off the bar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider again delivered the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.