Enzo Maresca fails to grasp major Chelsea opportunity as Reece James finally turns a corner

It very much felt make-or-break for Chelsea pre-match at Craven Cottage and the jubiliant celebrations in the away section on 93 minutes tell you just that.

It is hard to think of a better moment in the season from the Blues ' point of view. After a miserable week, that included a 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town and a defeat to Legia Warsaw, Pedro Neto broke Fulham hearts but gave Chelsea supporters a reason to believe again - in a game that up until that point had been an extremely frustrating experience for the visitors.

Defeat would have left Chelsea floundering in seventh place but three points - and a first away victory of the calendar year - have the Blues in a great position yet again to qualify for next season's Champions League. Enzo Maresca has said over the last few months that Chelsea's main target is to finish in the top four/five this season in order to be back amongst Europe's elite next term, though the Italian was insistent Neto's late strike does not change how he feels towards his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.

Earlier in the week, Maresca said there has been progress from a Chelsea point of view regardless of whether they meet their target, the Italian doubled down on his comments. "Personally, the goal from Pedro doesn't change my view from the season," Maresca explained at Craven Cottage. "I said three or four days ago, and I will repeat, Chelsea in the last two years has never been in a Champions League spot and this season we spent the whole season there. So today's win doesn't change my view.

"It's already a good season and can become very good if we finish in a Champions League spot, no doubt. But for sure today was an important win because first of all it's a derby, second it gives us the chance to be there and probably was the most difficult win and the reason why is because they all played yesterday, so for us it was a must-win game. And I think after we conceded the goal is the reason why we struggled a bit more because for the players it became more difficult and second half we were much better."

It felt like a big opportunity for Maresca to build more of a connection with the supporters at full-time. Having just won against their local rivals in the most dramatic of circumstances, the Chelsea players understandably went to celebrate with the away section - who were brilliant throughout, even when the Blues were losing - after the final whistle. Maresca, though, went straight down the tunnel.

He said: "I was very happy, first of all because it's a nice feeling to win the game at the end but I think it was a moment for the players because they deserve to share that moment with the fans. So this is the reason why I left the pitch immediately and then when we scored the second one I celebrated and this is the reason why they gave me a yellow card.

"But for sure I think it was a nice moment for the players and for the fans to share that moment, it's important and I said already many times, the players need to feel the support."

Maresca has been vocal about building a connection with the supporters but perhaps missed an opportunity at Fulham. Either way, the three points were the most important thing for the Italian but this simply has to be the start for Chelsea. The start of a mini-run reminscent of what we witnessed at the end of last season.

The fixtures are tough for the Blues but they need to be near perfect in the remaining five in order to beat the competition for a Champions League place. The win at Fulham is the perfect start for that, even if it was not the perfect performance.

In order to build some momentum, the in-form players need to start and there are not many more in the Chelsea squad than Tyrique George at the moment. After opening his account for the Blues at senior level earlier in the month away in Warsaw, the 19-year-old struck his first Premier League goal on Sunday afternoon.

On as a second-half substitute for the out-of-sorts Nicolas Jackson, George found the back of the net with a clinical finish, leaving Bernd Leno with no chance to level the game for the visitors. George has been used as a No.9 in recent matches to try and give the Blues an alternative option to Jackson, who is now without a goal in his last 13 games in all competitions - a run that stretches back to December.

When Everton come to Stamford Bridge at the weekend, there has to be a place in the starting line-up for the Cobham graduate, who was promoted to the first team alongside fellow teenager Josh Acheampong earlier in the season. Maresca was visibly delighted for George when asked about his goal post-match but a big decision needs to be made next weekend and that could spell bad news for Jackson, but he has not been good enough in recent matches.

The same can be said about Cole Palmer, although it seems far more unlikely the 22-year-old will be dropped given his status in the team. Another off day for Palmer, whose cool, calm and cold version of himself seems a distant memory at the moment. While there is a concern, it seems fairly certain things will turn for Palmer when he finally does score again. Sixteen games have passed since his last goal, however.

A positive, though, was Reece James starting for the Blues. The Chelsea captain made a mistake that led to Alex Iwobi's goal and was taken off at half-time, so it was by no means a great performance. However, the fact he was able to be called upon from the start less than 72 hours after completing 90 minutes against Legia Warsaw is a huge positive for the west Londoners.

"Fantastic, very happy because he played 90 minutes two days ago and played again 45 so for us as a team, it's an important moment because we can start to think about him every three days and this is fantastic for us because he's our captain, a main player, fantastic player," Maresca said on James' surprise inclusion on Sunday. "Then it can happen, we conceded the first goal when we lost the ball, it can happen and the reason why we changed him was not just because he played 90 minutes two days ago, 45 and that was the plan."