Some Chelsea supporters remain standoffish with Enzo Maresca, even after seeing their side creep back into top four. The sense remains that Stamford Bridge regulars will take some convincing on the merits of the careful, possession-heavy nature of Marescaball. It is not exactly setting pulses racing at the moment and it was telling that the mood was far from harmonious during this win against Leicester City.

Maresca seemed to be letting out a lot of frustration when he reacted to Marc Cucurella breaking the deadlock after an hour of stodginess by gesturing angrily for fans to make more noise. The grumbling about his team’s backwards and sideways ­passing had struck a nerve. Then again Maresca could hardly ­complain if there was dissatis­faction about Chelsea ­labouring against ­opponents who look certain to return to the Championship after losing 12 of their past 13 games.