Chelsea took advantage of their top four rivals dropping points over the weekend to open up a small but important two-point gap to fifth place Manchester City. Their 1-0 win over relegation-bound Leicester City still left much to be desired.

Marc Cucurella's second half strike - his four of the season in the Premier League - was enough to secure a crucial three points heading into next weekend's meeting with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. After Mikel Arteta's side were only able to draw 1-1 at Manchester United, the gap to second could be three points if Chelsea win away in north London.

Perhaps more importantly, City were beaten by Nottingham Forest on Saturday, allowing Chelsea the chance to reclaim fourth spot. They are now three ahead of Brighton but moved away from Bournemouth and Aston Villa, who both drew from winning positions.

READ MORE: Enzo Maresca takes biggest Chelsea risk yet as Champions League reality laid bare again

READ MORE: Every word Enzo Maresca said on why Cole Palmer went straight down the tunnel and Leicester surprise

Chelsea are within touching distance of Forest as well with the race for the Champions League spots hotting up. Despite the win for Enzo Maresca, confidence is hardly flowing after another laboured performance failed to inspire much satisfaction outside of the valuable points.

The game could and perhaps should have been more comfortable for Chelsea and on another day they are awarded more than just the one penalty. Here, football.london analyses Tim Robinson's decisions at the centre of it all.

Palmer penalty

In one of four potential penalties for Chelsea in this game, Palmer may well have had an even earlier spot-kick. He went down under the challenge of Luke Thomas after just two minutes.

Receiving the ball just outside the right side of the six-yard box after Jadon Sancho's stabbed pass, Palmer gets himself between Thomas and the goal before a collision. On first viewing it is clumsy from Thomas and could easily have been given as a penalty.

The Shed End was up in arms, as was Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, and Enzo Fernandez. Thomas looked nervously over his shoulder and wagged his finger in the moments afterwards. Leicester were awarded with a goalkick.

football.london verdict: This could easily have been a penalty. Thomas makes no contact with the ball and is the wrong side of Palmer. There is a tangle of legs and Palmer surely would have been in a position to shoot from close range had Thomas not impeded him. Chelsea got their penalty eventually but this one looks like it should have been given.

Sancho penalty

Fortunately for Chelsea, Robinson did point to the spot 20 minutes later. Once again on the right, Sancho entered the box himself running to the byline and then turning back to head away from goal. Victor Kristiansen couldn't resit an attempt to win the ball and stood on Sancho's foot. Penalty given.

football.london verdict: Although Palmer went on to have his effort saved by Mads Hermansen, there isn't too much debating this decision. Sancho certainly makes the most of it as he flung himself into the air, twisting as he did so, but there is enough of a step onto his toes to be worthy of a foul. It's silly from Kristiansen, who has very little to gain.

Hermansen's tactics of delaying the penalty seemed to work. Chelsea's talisman is out of form and confidence right now. This was an ideal chance to end a drought of nine-games without a goal but the shot was slightly scuffed and not full of the same conviction usually associated with Palmer.

Neto penalty

This one can be filed under the 'probably not' category. With Pedro Neto looking to weave his way between two Leicester bodies inside the area, he takes a quick touch with either foot, jinxing one way and then another. Faced with the bodies of Boubakary Soumare and James Justin, he decides the only way is through.

Neto pushes the ball between the tangle of legs but Justin does manage to get a glance on it with the back of his left foot. Neto then hits Justin's heel with his own right foot and is sent tumbling. Justin's thigh also blocks off Neto as he tries to get through but Robinson waved played on.

football.london verdict: It is another tight call but Justin does seem to get a small touch on the ball, even if he is facing the wrong way. Neto won't have felt that and there is definite contact as he goes over. The ball was quickly out of his reach and into more white shirts, who then countered and gained a free-kick themselves.

Coady handball

Popping up in the same area as Cucurella had done for the goal, Sancho found space on the edge of the Leicester box and let fly. His effort was deflected wide by Conor Coady.

Much like Justin's tackle on Neto earlier in the game, Coady was facing the wrong direction when the ball struck his arm. It hit him on the elbow as he moved to block the shot.

Chelsea players were once more incensed at the decision but VAR found nothing to be wrong. It left Maresca fuming on the touchline with fourth official Sam Barrott.

football.london verdict: This is a hard one because the game does not need re-refereeing. In this case, VAR probably does its job and doesn't overturn a call which is tight.

Coady's arm does end up away from his body but it is in an attempt to try and get into a position to block the shot. The arm was deemed to have been in a natural position as he jumped.

Much like the others, though, if Chelsea had been given a penalty, they would all have been unlikely to be ruled out upon review. A good day for umpire's call, then.

Caicedo escapes a ban

Entering this match on nine Premier League yellow cards, Maresca risked starting Moises Caicedo. In the end he needed the midfielder to bring immense energy and defensive mopping up throughout.

He has often been the only shield in front of defence, doing the hard yards for those who are less mobile (or willing) around him. There is a reason that Caicedo ranks so well for passes into the final third (third in the league), tackles (also third), interceptions (eighth), touches (ninth), and bookings (joint-second).

He is all action and has to be. Chelsea cannot do without him for big matches but a yellow card here would have seen him miss next weekend's visit to Arsenal. Caicedo hardly put a foot wrong on the afternoon, winning the most tackles (four), most fouls (four), most duels (11), and most possession (eight).

He anchored the team but did get away with one late on. He will say he earned it, but with seven minutes of normal time left, Caicedo upended Wilfried Ndidi on the halfway line. It didn't stop a meaningful attack but broke up possession for Leicester. It could easily have been given as a yellow card, especially with the clock running down.

football.london verdict: This is exactly the sort of situation Chelsea will have feared. Caicedo had done plenty of heavy lifting for Chelsea and showed signs of tiredness here.

If they want a chance against Arsenal he will be central to it and on another day this is a bookable offence. As it happens, Josh Acheampong was the only played carded by Robinson on a day that never came close to bubbling under, let alone boiling over.