Palmer missed for the first time from the penalty spot for Chelsea, although Maresca later revealed that his star man had been ill in the build-up to the game and played only because of his determination to help his team-mates.

That will please Chelsea fans, but they have not yet taken to Maresca’s pass-at-all-costs approach and were getting increasingly frustrated with seeing the ball go sideways and backwards before Cucurella fired in a shot from 20 yards on the hour mark.

Maresca celebrated Cucurella’s goal by signalling for more support from the home fans and afterwards referenced the fact that Leicester’s fans had been similarly underwhelming in their support of his promotion-winning team at times last season.

Referring to a Leicester correspondent in the post-match press conference, Maresca said: “It’s very easy. This guy was with me all season last year at Leicester and it happened exactly the same. It’s where it is. The people, they have to understand that this is our way, our style and this is the way we’re going to play. When a team creates the amount of chances we create today, you have to be happy. It’s not easy.

“Leicester, until minute 83, they were nil-nil against Arsenal. The same thing happened against City. If you think that football is just a PlayStation and you win easy, no way. Every game is difficult.

“And the way our players played, they have done today, fantastic. We need our fans. You know, on my Instagram, I said two days ago, our Champions League target will also be with our fans. Support us. And especially when we play at home, we need them behind the players because the spirit they showed today has been top.”