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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. This positive association was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled long before it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of missing excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular distance strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with the forward scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull showed great fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his pass set up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his treble as the provider again delivered the crucial ball for the attacker to coolly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good situation in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for the winners. 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 reach the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.