Ipswich's wait is over. Portman Road would not be denied its first first division winning since April 2002. Chelsea's title challenge, as it stood, will not reach 2025. Two defeats and a draw over the festive period leave them ten points behind Liverpool, not so much holding the coattails as becoming dust.
Liam Delap did the damage, winning a penalty which he slotted home, and then set up Omari Hutchinson for the second in a spectacular performance. If Ipswich and Kieran McKenna revitalized hope in their battle against relegation, then Enzo Maresca's goals for Chelsea they are being redesigned to remain in the top four.
Maresca's reputation as a decisive coach was reinforced with the replacement of Robert Sánchez by Filip Jörgensen after a costly Goalkeeper error against Fulham.amid five changes from the Boxing Day defeat. With a large squad and clear signs of fatigue, the team looked like a Conference League team, especially due to the presence of João Félix up front. Nicolas Jackson had been rested, with Christopher Nkunku the most central of the attacking unit. A selection born of fatigue or Ipswich's status as a bottom-three club without a home win all season?
McKenna, who took on a club he was heavily linked with last summer, only for the job to end up in the hands of Maresca, a contender in last season's Championship promotion race, was looking to extend the club's Blue Christmas. Chelsea. He had also replaced a goalkeeper: Christian Walton replaced Arijanet Muric. While Walton made his first appearance since opening day, Nathan Broadhead made his first Premier League start.
As is often the case, his team started with real enthusiasm, Delap colliding with Levi Colwill with unseasonable intent. Broadhead almost got on the scoresheet in the opening moments, only for his shot from a Hutchinson pass to shake Tosin Adarabioyo to safety. That early energy brought reward. A ball from Leif Davis dismissed Delap and Jörgensen was quick to attack. The sentence was duly imposed. Did Delap accentuate the contact? That's how it seemed. Chelsea's case was decent but the referee's decision was followed.
Delap scored, he could have gotten another shortly after, but Jörgensen partially redeemed himself. Chelsea were sluggish, as lethargic in attack as they were in defence, and Felix seemed unable to stay upright when any Ipswich player approached him. Its renewal remains an enigma. Nkunku was also slow to attack when Cole Palmer's free kick, swept away with characteristic indolence, hit the post. The Frenchman could not beat Walton, crossing his team where Jörgensen had previously failed.
Ipswich's underbelly, weighing down a team that wins hearts through its commitment to attacking play, was exposed when Palmer's pass found Felix in position to score and then stage an elaborate celebration aimed at the enemies. The problematic thing for the one who was once a playmaker worth more than 100 million euros is that he had been half a meter offside. Disturbingly for Ipswich, Palmer was now walking too freely, while Moisés Caicedo, who scored an effort, was gaining influence.
Maintaining his danger on the counter, Delap forced a near-post save from Jörgensen, which in turn was equalized by Walton acrobatically upending a Palmer rocket. Wizard Wythenshawe could only smile sadly, confidently hoping for more where that came from.
As if enthused by some invective from the Italian dressing room, Chelsea began the second half with greater energy. Wes Burns had to head a Felix header off the line. Noni Madueke added to Walton's save tally at his near post. Such strong pressure raised existential questions in Ipswich; Surely life in the Premier League is about more than last-ditch defense and clear aerial bombardment.
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The answer came in the explosion of noise and joy that followed the second goal. Axel Disasi, close to any starter's dream, made a terrible pass without looking into Delap's path. The striker retreated while the retreating defenders tried to guess his intentions. A stabbed pass gave Hutchinson space to score against a club that discarded him after two senior appearances. He celebrated with a backflip of vindication.
Maresca's immediate response was to end Félix's evening after an exhibition to further deepen the mystery. Jackson arrived to add a more familiar shape to the line of scrimmage. Nkunku soon departed after a much less ineffective night, Jadon Sancho the last attempt to respond to what had become a creative drain, with Palmer forced to sink deeper to find a way back. Delap, a one-man striker, keeping defenders at bay and winning fouls, was having the time of his life.
Passing the ball past Caicedo and then keeping Marc Cucurella at bay, he forced another save from Jörgensen, whose performance as the match wore on suggested the wisdom of Maresca's selection in that regard. Jackson's attempted rescue mission saw him lose a one-on-one, and his colleagues began to erupt in frustration, with Palmer making him a passenger. Ipswich could believe that this, after previous disappointments, could be the one.
