Chelsea have put themselves in a really strong position going into next weekend's final round of Premier League fixtures.
Marc Cucurella's second-half header proved to be the only goal as they edged past Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Friday evening. The three points are huge for the Blues, who will now be in the top five going into the final match of the season against Nottingham Forest.
Depending on how Forest get on away at West Ham United, it could be a winner-takes-all scenario at the City Ground on the final day. Chelsea have got themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League despite dropping off in the second half of the season in a domestic sense.
However, in recent games, Enzo Maresca's young group of players have shown a steeliness about them, a grit that many may have doubted was there. The win against United was the perfect example of that. Chelsea went into the match as big favourites given United's woes in the league this term, but struggled against a mid-to-low block, with Ruben Amorim setting up to try and frustrate Maresca.
Maresca even admitted post-match that Amorim surprised him with his aggressive man-to-man approach at Stamford Bridge. Such surprises and frustration was not going to get in the way of Chelsea's main objective: three points.
In Chelsea's last 10 Premier League matches, the Blues have picked up a total of 21 points, with six of those being wins and three draws along the way as well. Of those six wins, just one of them has been by more than one goal - against champions Liverpool earlier in the month after the title was secured. The Blues have won by the odd goal in five of their last 10 Premier League matches.
People usually say that is the sign of champions. That, of course, is not the case here; but it does show an extra dimension and mental toughness to this Chelsea side. Maresca's philosophy seems to be all about performance, so it will perhaps not be sustainable in the long run, but the Italian now has the knowledge that his players can grind out results when facing adversity.
And that in itself is a skill - an invaluable one at that. With Chelsea potentially in Europe's elite next season, they may well need to grind out results from time to time, and this end to the campaign may really help them do just that.