Ipswich did not have their top, second-top or third-top scorers on the pitch and yet led 2-0 at half-time. As spirited as Chelsea’s comeback then was, results as rogue as this will not do if Enzo Maresca’s side are to satisfy their yearning for Champions League football.
Everyone involved in that race for a top-five finish realises they can ill afford slip-ups, especially when even their opponents realise they are heading for relegation to the Championship.
Chelsea have one of the more challenging run-ins, and Ipswich at home was supposed to be gentle. Instead, it was an afternoon where Stamford Bridge’s supporters showed their frustration, a fair few sending flak towards Maresca for his footballing style.
They trailed 2-0 at the break through Julio Enciso and Ben Johnson, and got back into it via an own goal from Axel Tuanzebe and a Jadon Sancho screamer.
Chelsea would have won it at the very end were it not for Palmer. Alex, that is. Not Cole. Fans are used to hearing that Palmer won the man-of-the-match award here. But this time, it was Ipswich’s goalkeeper who put in a performance worthy of that accolade.
They were his sensational stops in the closing stages which meant Chelsea dropped two valuable points in their bid to bag a place in Europe’s best competition.
Jadon Sancho celebrates after scoring the equaliser against Ipswich on Sunday afternoon
Sancho found the top corner with a curling effort from just inside the area in the 78th minute
The winger celebrates scoring his side’s second goal with team-mate Enzo Fernandez
Liam Delap, Omari Hutchinson and Sammie Szmodics were Ipswich’s top three goalscorers, accountable for 19 of their 31 Premier League goals this season. However, none were able to start here. Delap was the biggest surprise after suffering a rib injury in midweek. This was supposed to be an audition, after all, with Chelsea considering signing the 22-year-old striker this summer.
When lacking so many sources of goals, it helps having a generous opposition goalkeeper who will create the odd chance on your behalf. It took four minutes for Robert Sanchez to give away his first ball while trying to pass from the back. He played in straight to Jack Clarke, who skied his chance into the Matthew Harding Stand when he should have done better.
Other than that, the first 15 minutes belonged to Chelsea, with the statistics saying 47 per cent of the action was played in Ipswich’s third. The closest they came was when Nicolas Jackson struck the post after Enzo Fernandez’s pass from the right-hand side.
Noni Madueke’s volley was stopped only by the fingertips of Alex Palmer, Levi Colwill’s header was too close to Ipswich’s goalkeeper, and Cucurella sent a 20-yard strike towards the heavens.
Then in the 19th minute, Ipswich struck via a counter-attack after Fernandez lost the ball. George Hirst drove forward with it brilliantly before giving it to the overlapping Johnson. He sent it into the box where Colwill had fallen asleep, leaving Enciso to tap in for 1-0.
It was Ipswich’s first entrance into the Chelsea box, and they led from it.
After 31 minutes, it was 2-0 and it came from a Chelsea goal-kick. Sanchez was shaping up to pass from the back as usual, but the fans were frustrated with that. Sod it, Sanchez seemed to say to himself. He launched it long into Ipswich’s half instead. But the ball came straight back at Chelsea, via the heads of Sam Morse and then Hurst.
That left Clarke to pick up possession. He passed to Enciso, who crossed for Ben Johnson to head into the opposite corner. The Premier League’s new offside technology checked it, and the goal was good. There were 16 seconds between Sanchez’s goal-kick and Johnson’s header.
Chelsea tried to get back into the game before half-time, if only to lessen the boos which were inevitably coming their way. Cole Palmer started an attack with a lovely pass in behind Ipswich. Pedro Neto could have shot. Marc Cucurella could have. Madueke could have. None did. It was a comedy of errors which allowed Ipswich to survive what initially looked a lively move.
‘Oi, Maresca, this is f***ing boring,’ shouted one supporter by the press box as the first half came to a close. Ipswich had managed two shots on target, and scored two goals. They now led 4-0 on aggregate if we counted their win at Portman Road.
Eighteen seconds into the restart, it was 2-1, as Madueke showed his speed in driving into the box and forced an own goal out of Tuanzebe, who tried to stop Cucurella from tapping in.
Ipswich could still smell a counter-attack goal for themselves as Hurst twice came close, first from 25 yards and then a free header which he could not properly direct. As for Chelsea, Palmer had a pop from distance, but he continued to look a shadow of his former self.
After 64 minutes came Chelsea’s 28th cross of the afternoon from open play. In no other Premier League match had they produced more this season, giving us an idea of how they were hoping to find a way through Ipswich’s defensive wall. Fernandez thought he had a tap-in from one such ball into the box from Sancho, but Conor Townsend calculated his clearance perfectly.
Sancho had not scored for Chelsea since December 8. You could imagine why a few fans were less than pleased when he replaced the lively Madueke, therefore. But in the 79th minute, the Manchester United loanee produced pure brilliance. He was 16 yards from goal and curled a beauty into the top corner for 2-2.
Delap emerged from the bench and he showed exactly why so many suitors – Chelsea included – fancy him this summer as he surged upfield and won a corner all on his own.
When Cucurella was fouled by Morsy, Chelsea had their set-piece chance to score. Trevoh Chalobah headed it from two yards and yet somehow, it was saved.
In stoppage time, it was Palmer versus Palmer, Chelsea’s creator against Ipswich’s stopper. The 22-year-old Englishman curled one, but his counterpart pushed it wide.
Seconds later, Fernandez thought he had grabbed the winner himself, only for Palmer to produce an even more spectacular stop. With that, it finished all square.
