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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult evening’s task for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and maybe should have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

However, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Impact

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer chances always fell to the visitors. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to run away thinking 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.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again delivered the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly slot by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice individuals 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," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their new manager at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for Rosenior.