Nicolas Jackson’s brilliant first-half goal proved the difference at Stamford Bridge, but his was far from the only performance in Blue that made a big contribution to the 1-0 win which kept up the pressure on our rivals in the race for UEFA Champions League qualification.

One of those to catch the eye was Lavia, who returned to our midfield following injury and featured for over an hour on his first start since January, before being replaced by Reece James.

Maresca was clear how much he believes both those players can contribute during the run-in, with four games remaining in the Premier League, even if he is cautiously monitoring their minutes.

‘I spent one entire season with Romeo when I was at the Under-21s with Man City, so I know Romeo very well,’ said our head coach.

‘For us it’s like Reece, they are both top players. The only shame for us is that unfortunately we need to manage them. We need to protect them, but there’s no doubt that Chelsea with Reece and Romeo is a better team.

‘When he is fit, Romeo is one of the best midfielders, because he can defend very well, he can attack, he can break the line with the passes between the lines. It’s unbelievable. He is very good and hopefully we can have him until the end of the season.’

Few played as big a hand in our victory over Everton – quite literally – as goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who made several vital saves to preserve our narrow lead, especially during the closing stages when the Toffees rallied to apply some late pressure.

That prompted Maresca to explain why he felt some of the criticism Sanchez has received this season has been unfair, as well as highlight the faith he and the other players have in the Spanish international.

‘You can see from how his team-mates celebrated with him at the end of the game, that the team knows that for Robert it has not been a good moment, and so they try to support him and to help him.

‘Robert had already many good moments this season. Just recently, against Tottenham at home, we were winning 1-0 and in the 90th minute he did a great save.

‘It’s normal that as a human being you always remember the bad things and not the good things. So about Robert probably we remember just the mistakes, but also he’s had some very good moments with us. So hopefully he can continue those good moments until the end.’

There was also praise for defender Trevoh Chalobah, who applied the pressure in an advanced position to win possession at a crucial moment, leading directly to Jackson’s winning goal.

Having returned to Chelsea from a loan spell at Crystal Palace during the winter transfer window, the centre-back has been in impressive form, showing just why Maresca was keen to include him in our squad for the second half of the season, regardless of injuries to other players.

‘I think Trev, since he’s back with us in January, he’s doing very well. He’s playing games, he’s helping us, he’s defending when he needs to defend.

‘He is also building from the back when we need him, so he is able to do that, and we are very happy with Trev.

‘I knew that he could help us. Unfortunately Wes Fofana is the one that is out, but for sure we had no doubt that Trev would help us.’