Chelsea took the lead in the 18th minute when Pedro Neto's dangerous inswinging cross picked out Alejandro Garnacho at the far post and his volley back across goal was diverted into his own net by Richard Rios.

Robert Sanchez had to tip Dodi Lukebakio's early shot on to the post and there were a few other dangerous moments for the Blues but we were relatively comfortable on our way to victory - with Joao Pedro's late dismissal for a second yellow card following a high boot one of the few low points on the night.

Maresca said: 'We needed for sure the win, the three points, for different reasons.

'I think first-half we controlled the game, we scored the goal, we created more chances and we didn't concede nothing apart from two or three transitions, which is normal.

'And then second-half, for different reasons, we dropped. I think we have some players on the pitch that unfortunately are not 100 per cent, but they are playing because we have seven or eight players out.

'But also I think it was good to win tonight, in any case, even if sometimes you need to learn to win in an ugly way, like the last minutes of the game.'

This stage of the Champions League sees each side play eight games, with the top eight progressing to the round of 16 automatically and those who finish ninth to 24th going into knockout play-off matches.

With defeat to Bayern Munich in our first match and tonight's victory, we currently occupy 17th with six matches remaining. When asked if the target was finishing in the top eight of the Champions League standings, Maresca replied: 'Yes, absolutely. First of all, the target is to continue the next stage, but if we are able to finish top eight, that is very good for us.

'Now we have six more games. We will see if we are able to recover also players, that for us is so important. But now the focus is more for Saturday's game. Then we have the international break that we are waiting because we can have players back. You see tonight Benoit Badiashile, he was very good. So if we are able to recover players, that's what we need.'