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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for promotion, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed home support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and perhaps should have been decided long before it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical mood. He opened the deadlock with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 key passes. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to coolly convert past a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key 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 strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good example of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Look Promising

The result resulted in an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.