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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding display from his team, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a sniff of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The packed home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side showed great fight all game, but the clearer chances always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, 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 reacted to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Focus Turns

Seven minutes after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think 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 games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he knows very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result resulted in an in the end straightforward night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.