The lowdown on Chelsea 2 Ipswich 2 – Blues recover from 2-0 down but squander points
Chelsea battled back after a chastening first half but failed to press home and take all three points against the Championship-bound Tractor Boys. It was a missed opportunity to move up to fourth, although the fifth place they occupied at full-time would be enough to secure a Champions League spot. As it was, Newcastle’s win over Man United later in the evening dropped them back down to sixth. Ipswich once again enjoyed pitting their wits against the Blues. Their one and only home win in the league this season was against Chelsea.
Here are the main takeaways.
THE LINE-UPS
Chelsea: Sanchez, Chalobah, Tosin (Gusto h/t), Colwill, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Madueke (Sancho 68), Palmer, Pedro Neto, Jackson (Nkunku 87). Subs not used: Acheampong, Badiashile, Dewsbury-Hall, George, James, Jorgensen
Ipswich Town: Palmer, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Burgess, Davis (Townsend 62), Morsy, Cajuste, Johnson, Enciso (Taylor 75), Clarke (Philogene 71) (Broadhead 75), Hirst (Delap 71), Son. Subs not used: Chaplin, Luongo, Walton, Woolfenden
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
Doomed they may be, and under the cosh though they were early on – Nicolas Jackson hitting a post – Ipswich played with a ton of spirit and stunned the Blues to take a 2-0 half-time lead with breakaway goals.
On 20 minutes, Julio Enciso stabbed home at the near post after Ben Johnson had cut the ball back from the byline after latching onto a George Hirst ball through the channel. Enciso turned provider with a cross to the far post that Johnson nodded past Robert Sanchez after half an hour – a VAR check overturning a linesman’s flag.
No doubt given a dressing down at the interval, Chelsea hit back immediately after the restart, with Noni Madueke scampering in from the right and having his low cross turned into his own net by Axel Tuanzebe, under pressure from Marc Cucurella – the Spaniard atoning for being beaten twice for the Ipswich goals.
TACTICAL APPROACH
On paper, this looks like Chelsea’s strongest line-up, with Madueke and Pedro Neto on the flanks and Cole Palmer pulling the strings behind the always-improving Nicolas Jackson.
The holding pivots of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo roamed ahead of Tosin and Levi Colwill with the full back roles taken up by Trevoh Chalobah and Cucurella.
It helped that even between two European quarter-final ties, this game could take priority for Enzo Maresca. He has more than enough riches to husband resources through a relatively undemanding tie against Legia Warsaw that is already effectively won.
The set up allowed the Blues to dominate possession and territory.
STAR MAN
It’s got to be Palmer, as it often is at the Bridge. Only this time, it’s Alex Palmer. The Ipswich keeper had a superb match behind a defence that battled hard but always looked vulnerable, sitting so deep as Chelsea pressed for most of the game.
In truth, nobody covered themselves in glory for the Blues. Pedro Neto showed the necessary intensity but was wayward in his finishing touches. Enzo Fernandez kept Chelsea driving forward and almost grabbed a winner. He was probably the best of a modest bunch.
BEST MOMENT
Jadon Sancho’s equaliser. Fans were not too impressed when Maresca took off Madueke and brought on the Man United loanee for the final quarter, but Sancho justified the faith when he found room on the edge of the box and exploited it to the full – curling the ball beyond Alex Palmer to make it 2-2, 11 minutes after coming off the bench.
There should have been a better best moment from Chelsea in the shape of a winning goal to complete the comeback – and few would have bet against it at that stage – but it never materialised.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
There were plenty for home fans to choose from. The early misplaced passes from Robert Sanchez – one to an opponent just 40 yards out, another straight into touch – was one, the lack of end product in spite of all the possession was another. Boos rang out at half-time and plenty of moaning would have come from the boss – who sent his players out early for the second half as if to say: “Go sort this out!” They did up the intensity but were ultimately wasteful.
TALKING POINTS DOWN THE PUB
If the Blues can’t beat Ipswich, what are the chances in their remaining fixtures? In theory, this was the easiest of the seven games left in the run-in and the Blues were 5/1 on to win it at kick-off.
They failed to capitalise on a lot of good openings and will need to be far more efficient when they have less of the ball in their remaining games: At home to Everton, Liverpool and Man United and away to Fulham, Newcastle and Forest.
The form of Cole Palmer might also be up for discussion. There were lots of carries into enemy territory but diffident final touches which suggested a little drop in confidence. He was much more potent earlier in the season and the hope must be that he rediscovers that ruthless streak. He hasn’t scored since the mid-January draw with Bournemouth.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“We started quite well, creating chances but when they scored the first goal it changed the dynamic of the game. The two goals we conceded were from our mistakes.
“At this stage of the season against these kind of teams if you are able to score the first one, the game completely changes in your side. Unfortunately we conceded, and then our game was not good enough in different things.
“Like the other teams in the Champions League positions, I think we are going to win games but at the same time we are going to drop points. It’s normal.
“For sure today we did not expect to drop points, especially in the way we started the game because I think for all of us it was a matter of when we were going to score, but then they scored and it completely changed the dynamic of the game. Probably we lost a little bit of confidence.”
Pictured top: Cole Palmer takes on the Ipswich defence – but the England man couldn’t get on the scoresheet today (Picture: Alamy)