| Ipswich Town 2 v 0 Chelsea FA Premier League Monday, 30th December 2024 Kick-off 19:45 |  |
Ipswich Town 2-0 Chelsea - Match Report Monday, 30th Dec 2024 21:58 Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson were on target as Town ended 2024 by beating Chelsea 2-0 at Portman Road to claim their first home win in the Premier League since April 2002. Delap, reportedly a player Chelsea are eyeing, netted the Blues’ first penalty of the season in the 12th minute having been fouled by visitors’ keeper Filip Jorgensen, then Hutchinson sealed a vital three points against his old club in the 53rd minute. Keeper Christian Walton returned to a Town XI featuring six players who played with the Blues in League One,for the first time since the opening week of the season, one of four changes made by manager Kieran McKenna. Walton replaced Aro Muric, who was on the bench, for his second Premier League appearance having started the opening match against Liverpool and the Carabao Cup defeat at AFC Wimbledon a few days later. Wes Burns came in wide on the right for Ben Johnson, who was also among the subs, with McKenna once again naming Dara O’Shea, Luke Woolfenden and Jacob Greaves in his backline, with Leif Davis at left-back. Skipper Sam Morsy returned in the centre of midfield alongside Jens Cajuste with Kalvin Phillips on the bench having started his first game in almost two months at Arsenal on Friday. Ahead of them, Nathan Broadhead was handed his first Premier League start having impressed off the bench in recent weeks with Sammie Szmodics dropping to the bench, while Omari Hutchinson faced his old club. Delap was the number nine. Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five changes to his team following the 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham on Boxing Day with Jorgensen, Axel Disasi, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku coming into the XI and Robert Sanchez, Malo Gusto, Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and Nicolas Jackson all dropping to the bench. Town were first to threaten in the opening minute, Davis getting in behind on the left of the box but his cross was cut out. In the fourth minute, with the game remarkably open for such an early stage, Broadhead won the ball and fed Burns, who sent Hutchinson away. The former Chelsea forward worked some space with a trick, then cut back to Broadhead, who struck a first-time shot which was blocked. Chelsea’s first serious attack in the sixth minute saw Madueke send over a teasing cross from the right but too high for Felix and the ball went behind for a goal-kick. Town continued to give as good as they got and in the 10th minute were awarded their first penalty of the season. Davis played a clever pass in for Delap to chase into the left of the box, the striker beating Jorgensen to the ball and the keeper upending the frontman with his trailing leg. Referee John Brooks pointed to the spot and VAR official Michael Oliver confirmed the decision, Jorgensen having brought down Delap at a point when the striker probably couldn’t have done much with the ball with the angle so tight. After Cole Palmer had given his keeper some advice, Delap took the kick himself and smashed his seventh goal of the season low to Jorgensen’s right with the former Denmark U21 international going the right way but beaten by the power in the strike. Having gone in front, Town maintained the pressure and in the 13th minute Delap wasn’t too far from a second. Hutchinson blocked Marc Cucurella’s clearance and it fell to the former Manchester City man, who struck a powerful effort which Jorgensen did well to bat away to his right. Chelsea came very close to levelling in the 22nd minute when Cajuste was harshly adjudged to have fouled Nkunku just outside the area. Skipper Enzo Fernandez laid it off to Palmer, who hit a low effort which struck the inside of Walton’s right post. The loose ball rebounded out to Nkunku but under pressure the France international failed to knock it into the open goal, instead finding Walton at the post, who gratefully grabbed hold. The West Londoners thought they had got back on terms in the 24th minute when Palmer lofted a ball into the area and Felix nodded in at the far post. The on-field officials gave it but after an unnecessarily lengthy VAR review - it was immediately clear watching the video evidence that the goalscorer was offside - it was ruled out. Chelsea continued to look for the equaliser as the half an hour mark approached, Felix hitting a shot from the edge of the area against Woolfenden and then Cucurella, who moments earlier had been rolling on the turf making a lot of minimal contact from Hutchinson with the home fans making their displeasure clear, shot well wide after the ball had fallen to him on the left of the box. O’Shea was shown the game’s first yellow card in the 32nd minute for a late challenge on Felix midway inside the Town half, Cajuste nodding away Palmer’s free-kick. Three minutes later, Davis picked up a dangerous Chelsea ball from the left on the opposite touchline but passed out straight to Moises Caicedo but the former Brighton man blazed over when he should have done much better. Palmer, who at this stage was being given virtually free rein in the middle of Town’s half, turned away from Greaves and teed-up Felix, who scuffed a low shot, which was little trouble for Walton. Town attacks had become rarer the longer the half had progressed but on 38 Burns battled well to win the ball just inside the Chelsea half and sent Broadhead away. The Wales international fed Delap on the left of the box but the striker and Davis got in one another’s way and the chance was gone. A minute later, Broadhead played a superb cross-field pass for Delap to chase as the Blues counter-attacked, the England U21 international breaking into the right of the area before hitting a powerful strike which Jorgensen did well to palm behind for a Town corner. But it was still mainly Chelsea and in the 42nd minute Cucurella swept a ball in from the left which Nkunku knocked back to Fernandez, whose 10-yard effort was blocked by Greaves, who was then fouled. Moments before five additional minutes were announced, Davis was played in towards the left of the box and appeared to be tripped. Referee Brooks waved away the Town protests, despite there looking a decent case for a free-kick. Within a minute, Walton was forced into the save of the half. The ball was laid off to Palmer just outside the area and the England international aimed a deft effort towards the roof of the net but the Town keeper did well to palm it onto his bar and over to his right. Seconds before the whistle, a cross from the right was floated towards Felix but the Portuguese international headed well wide under pressure from Burns. The Blues were applauded off at the break after a sometimes pulsating and sometimes nervy half. Cucurella was subjected to boos as he left the field for his earlier play-acting. It had been a very different first half to the one at Arsenal on Friday with the Blues never under the sustained pressure they were against the Gunners. The opening spell was very open with the two sides breaking on one another and then the Blues scoring the penalty, Davis’s pass and Delap’s pace having drawn the mistake from Jorgensen. Chelsea began to turn the screw with Palmer at the centre of everything but with the Blues defending solidly and desperately - and also riding their luck - and Walton making one very good save. Two minutes after the restart, the visitors went very close to that leveller. Fernandez clipped over a cross from the right and Felix looked to plant a header in the corner of the net, beating Walton but not Burns, who headed off the line. In the 50th minute, Madueke was played in on the right of the area by Disasi and squeezed a shot past Greaves but Walton pushed it behind at the post. From the corner, the ball fell loose at the near post but Woolfenden turned it behind before a Chelsea player could react. Three minutes later, from their first attack of the second half, Town made it 2-0. Delap picked up a loose pass from Disasi just inside the Chelsea half and drove forward before being held up by Tosin Adarabioyo. Delap turned and stroked to Hutchinson to his right on the edge of the box and the former Chelsea man took it inside before hitting a low shot between Adarabioyo and Disasi, across Jorgensen and into the corner of the net. The forward, who joined the Blues from the West Londoners in the summer, celebrated his second goal of the season with his trademark somersault in front of the North Stand. Shell-shocked Chelsea immediately swapped Felix for 17-goal second-top scorer Jackson - one behind Palmer - as they sought to get back into the game, and perhaps also the title race. Three minutes after the hour mark, Delap battled with Adarabioyo for a long Walton punt up the field and brought the ball forward to the edge of the box before shooting well into the fans behind the goal, the keeper having claimed a Palmer cross-shot which for a second threatened to loop over him. Chelsea made their second change in the 65th minute swapping Nkunku for Sancho ahead of a free-kick which had been harshly awarded against Morsy but which Walton grabbed confidently. Town were spending most of their time pinned back in their half but occasionally breaking through Delap. From one such counter-attack in the 67th minute, Caicedo was booked for a clumsy foul on the striker. Following the free-kick, Davis was able to cross low from the left and the ball eventually dropped to Broadhead on the edge of the area, but his low shot was saved low down to his right by Jorgensen. Palmer saw two shots blocked, then a Madueke strike hit Davis and then Greaves, the Chelsea players claiming a penalty for handball, but referee Brooks immediately waved away the protests. On 74, the Blues were able to break out once again, Hutchinson sending Delap away on the right. The striker worked himself space with a change of pace, broke into the area and hit a shot from a tight angle that Jorgensen palmed over. From the corner, O’Shea seemed to just fail to get a touch as he burst towards the near post and Adarabioyo nodded behind, the Chelsea defender doing the same from the subsequent flag-kick. Within a minute, Chelsea thought they had failed to take a golden opportunity to pull a goal back, Jackson getting away behind the Town backline but shooting wide when one-on-one with Walton. The linesman’s flag immediately went up, however. Both teams made changes, Chelsea switching Disasi and Madueke for Gusto and Neto, while the Blues withdrew Broadhead, who had been excellent, and Cajuste, again one of Town’s best performers, for Szmodics and Phillips. Delap was booked on 83 for holding up play at a Chelsea goal-kick with the Blues temporarily having relieved the pressure following the substitutions. Chelsea were continuing to prod and probe but their conviction was starting to slip with even Palmer, their best player on the night, looping a cross deep into the Sir Alf Ramsey Stand. On 86, Jackson shot well over from the right of the box, then Town switched Burns, who had put in his best performance in the Premier League, for Ben Johnson. Moments after the change, referee Brooks stopped play for a Chelsea head injury, Gusto unnecessarily and aggressively trying to grab the ball from Davis, who he had just shoved over. There was a confrontation involving several players of both sides and Davis and Gusto were both booked. Levi Colwill was also yellow-carded, presumably for something he said. Town were seeing out the remaining time in relative comfort with the fourth official indicating an additional five minutes. Fernandez shot over in the 93rd minute but with the Chelsea players already appearing to realise the game was up. Town swapped Delap, who had been superb, and Hutchinson, who hadn’t been too far behind, for Ali Al-Hamadi and Jack Taylor for the final couple of minutes. Before play restarted, there was another confrontation between players from both teams, referee Brooks speaking to the two captains before Walton was waved to kick. Two minutes later, the referee blew his whistle, prompting Portman Road’s biggest roar of the season. The players celebrated on the pitch long after the end, returning keeper Walton doing the fist-pump honours, with Harry Clarke absent from the squad, to the delight of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. Having got their noses in front, Town defended brilliantly in the second half with Walton only really tested once after the break. The Blues withstood more pressure than in the first half but always looked dangerous as Delap and Hutchinson broke forward, the pair combining for the second goal, one which the forward will always remember against his old club. With both Town’s previous wins this season away, it was becoming increasingly important to claim a victory in front of the home support to maintain the momentum into the second half of the season, although few would have given the Blues a chance of pulling off that win against a Chelsea side which had looked a serious contender for the title. However, Maresca’s men had looked fallible having drawn 0-0 with Everton and then the loss to local rivals Fulham on Boxing Day and Town have now stretched their winless run to three matches. The Blues, who move up a place to 18th ahead of Leicester a point from safety at the season’s halfway mark, are next in action at Fulham on Sunday. Town: Walton, Burns (Johnson 86), O'Shea, Woolfenden, Greaves, Davis, Morsy (c), Cajuste (Phillips 77), Hutchinson (Taylor 94), Broadhead (Szmodics 77), Delap (Al-Hamadi 94). Unused: Muric, Townsend, Chaplin, J Clarke. Chelsea: Jorgensen, Disasi (Gusto 77), Cucurella, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Fernandez (c), Madueke (Neto 77), Felix (Jackson 55), Nkunku (Sancho 65), Palmer, Caicedo. Unused: Sanchez, James, Acheampong, Guiu, Veiga. Referee: John Brooks (Leicestershire). VAR: Michael Oliver. Att: 29,968 (Chelsea: 3,000)
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