Chelsea turned our dominance of possession and territory into goals in the second half, with a brace from Noni Madueke adding to George’s first Chelsea strike.

Maresca analysed the way the contest played out, and detailed how the halves differed.

‘We planned the game to try to have our best players for this game, and to give a chance to rest players and recover energy,’ the head coach said.

‘It was a professional performance and a good result. We were much better in the second half, for different reasons. We need to learn to play different times of games.

‘When they sit back, you have to be quicker on the ball. You have to shoot from outside the box because they are all inside the box. If you don’t shoot, it’s difficult. The first goal came from Reece shooting outside the box, and Ty was there for the rebound.

‘From television you can say lack of tempo, but it’s not easy. You have to find solutions. It’s a different game. You have to learn to play games against teams that sit back. For sure you can take more risks, or take more shots when you arrive at the edge.’

George opened his Chelsea account on his 18th appearance of the season, having been moved by Maresca into a central striking role at half-time.

‘I am really happy for the Chelsea Academy, first of all. He is one of our boys from the Academy. I’m very happy for him.

‘He was quite good first half. He took responsibility. Second half in the middle he was a bit better.’

Maresca also confirmed the plan was always to withdraw Tosin and Cole Palmer at half-time.