Not celebrating against your old club? Says who? Omari Hutchinson may have cut his teeth at Chelsea, but it was Ipswich who gave him his big break, and to confirm his first home win of the Premier League season, he had an acrobatic routine in store.
Hutchinson spun forwards and then backwards as he ran towards the corner, so grateful was he and everyone else at Portman Road that Chelsea ignored the three right-backs they had on their bench to appoint a central defender in that position, Axel Disasi .
That was one of the few mistakes made by Enzo Maresca here with Disasi responsible for Hutchinson's goal in the second half. It was his lazy passing that gave possession to his opponents. It was his nonchalance that caused Hutchinson to move beyond him to score.
That followed a first half in which Filip Jorgensen, who started ahead of Robert Sanchez in goal, fouled Liam Delap to give Ipswich the lead from the penalty spot.
Chelsea gave Ipswich chances but failed to take theirs and after all the praise Maresca must now take his medicine after such a miserable week. Draw with Everton, defeat against Fulham and now defeat against Ipswich, a match in which the visitors paid the price for their changes.
The only silver lining for Maresca, if there is one, is that he may be questioned about the Premier League title race. You might want to hope that some of them know how much damage they're doing to their top four chances, that is.
Omari Hutchinson sealed a shock victory for Ipswich by beating Chelsea on Monday night.
Liam Delap had given Ipswich an early lead from the penalty spot at Portman Road.
It was a disappointing night for Enzo Maresca as his team suffered a second consecutive defeat.
“We were waiting for this moment in the season,” Maresca said afterward. “We know these moments belong in football. It's almost impossible to go through a season without a moment. None of us in this room expected us to be where we are.”
Ipswich had six players in their starting line-up who played for the club in League One, and their manager Kieran McKenna said of their first home win: “Getting one over the line, at home, doing it against a team like Chelsea.” . , a night game, the last of 2024, is special. There were so many outstanding people. Liam was fantastic. It's a different beast now than it was in July.
Delap will know that Chelsea are watching him (Premier League players can't escape the rumor mill of the transfer columns, no matter how hard they try) and within two minutes, the 21-year-old Englishman stormed Tosin Adarabioyo in a challenge and He knocked down Levi Colwill. in another.
It was a wrecking ball and that turned up the volume at Portman Road as Nathan Broadhead was only denied the opener thanks to an Adarabioyo goal-line clearance.
In the 10th minute, Leif Davis made a pass behind Chelsea which Delap reached before Jorgensen as he dropped. Referee John Brooks ruled that the goalkeeper hit him and, although the contact was minimal, VAR Michael Oliver agreed it was enough to justify a penalty.
Cole Palmer pulled Jorgensen aside to talk to him, presumably telling him which direction to dive. He guessed correctly, but Delap hit the ball too hard into the bottom left corner as Ipswich led 1-0 with a watching Ed Sheeran. In the 14th minute, Jorgensen was needed at full length to prevent Delap from doubling Ipswich's lead.
When Christopher Nkunku was fouled, in the center of the goal and from 25 meters, Chelsea finally had a chance after 20 minutes. Palmer sent the free kick onto the post and Christian Walton (starting in goal over Arijanet Muric, to the delight of the fans) prevented Nkunku's rebound from going in.
Under Palmer, you can never count Chelsea out of a game and, in the 24th minute, they were celebrating the equalizer thanks to his exquisite cross for Joao Félix. However, Portman Road roared when VAR, after an eternity, ruled it out for offside.
Joao Félix had a goal disallowed by the VAR and that was the closest Chelsea came to scoring
It was a famous night for Kieran McKenna, whose team is now just one point adrift of safety.
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Marc Cucurella called for a yellow card for Hutchinson when the lank-haired winger acted as if he had been karate-kicked from the touchline. Brooks didn't believe it and from then on, Cucurella was booed by the Ipswich fans every time he had the ball. The only exception was when he fired a shot well wide of Walton's goal.
A flurry of chances for Chelsea followed as Noni Madueke missed a shot from Colwill's cross, Moisés Caicedo fired one over the bar and Félix failed to place the ball into the bottom right corner. Palmer came closest when Walton's fingertips pushed his curler against the bar, with Ipswich still leading at the break.
Chelsea began the second half as they finished the first, with Felix's header cleared by Wes Burns and Madueke parried away by Walton's legs at his near post.
And then Ipswich made it 2-0, courtesy of a Disasi error. The supposed right back made a mistaken pass that Delap took advantage of. He held on to the ball before setting up Hutchinson. With a move to his left, he bypassed Disasi and scored into the far corner.
Hutchinson celebrated, wow! He loved each one of them, as did Portman Road, which he knew visitors were baffled by.
Chelsea looked for a way back into the game when Nicolas Jackson was replaced, but this was a defeat of Maresca's own making and an opportunity that Ipswich emphatically took advantage of.