Chelsea fell to a 2-0 defeat against Ipswich Town on Monday night.
Ipswich took an early lead after Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen felled Liam Delap in the box. After a check by the video assistant referee, the penalty stood. Delap then converted the spot kick to put his side ahead.
Chelsea did come close to equalising before the break, but Joao Felix’s goal was chalked off for an offside by the VAR. Ipswich then doubled their lead after the break. Delap drove forward with the ball before teeing up Omari Hutchinson, who fired past Jorgensen.
The Athletic’s Simon Johnson analyses the key talking points from Portman Road.
Did Chelsea’s bad festive run continue?
A bad festive period for Chelsea has now become a bit of a disaster.
Chelsea may have been downplaying their title hopes going into the busy period but they would have expected a lot better than just one point from games against Everton, Fulham and Ipswich.
The three matches have all had the same thing in common, although Chelsea did not concede at Goodison Park on December 22 to secure a 0-0 draw at least.
Maresca watches on during Monday’s game (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea’s main weaknesses have been on display though, namely how they struggle at both ends of the pitch. They concede too many great chances in matches where they have most of the possession and are not ruthless enough in front of the goal themselves.
Maresca may blame misfortune after this loss. Chelsea did hit the woodwork twice among the many times they got into Ipswich’s final third and the penalty decision might have been waved away on another day.
But it has to be concerning for Maresca how Chelsea are losing momentum. Instead of being Liverpool’s closest challengers, they are now looking over their shoulders over their place in the top four as Newcastle and Manchester City begin to close in.
Did Felix take his opportunity to impress Maresca?
This was a frustrating experience for Joao Felix that is perhaps in keeping with his season at Chelsea thus far.
He was given a rare opportunity to start a Premier League game for Chelsea. It was just the third time since joining permanently from Atletico Madrid for £44.5million last summer.
For the most part head coach Enzo Maresca has utilised the attacker in the Conference League and Carabao Cup, a bit of a fall from grace for a player who is still one of the most expensive buys in the history of the game from when he moved to Atletico from Benfica for €126million (£113million) in 2019.
Just four days after being left on the bench as Chelsea lost 2-1 at home to Fulham, this was his chance to prove to Maresca that he should be involved more.
Playing as a left No 10, on the one hand, he provided a threat. On the other, he was rather wasteful.
For example, Chelsea would have drawn level at 1-1 from his shot had he timed his run correctly. Looking across the line of Ipswich defenders, the Portugal international should have realised where he was before Cole Palmer delivered a lovely pass. His strike was rightly ruled out by VAR.
The 25-year-old also had a goal-bound shot blocked and another tame effort from the edge of the box comfortably saved before the interval.
Soon after the restart, Joao Felix gestured angrily as his header from Enzo Fernandez’s cross was cleared off the line by Wes Burns.
Significantly, he was the first substitute Maresca made soon after Ipswich went 2-0 in front. It showed the Italian did not believe Joao Felix could help turn the game around for the visitors. He looked pretty disgruntled heading to the dugout and one can only wonder when he will next be seen in Chelsea’s first XI in a Premier League match.
Delap puts on a show for interested Chelsea
Now everyone will understand a little bit more why Chelsea have added Liam Delap to their list of striker targets for 2025. The Athletic reported last month and then again last week how the England Under-21 international is one of five to 10 attackers they are looking at with the summer window particularly in mind.
Maresca revealed his admiration in the build-up to the trip to Ipswich, talking about how he is “a fantastic player for his age” and how he can become an “important player for England”. Watching the youngster up against Chelsea was always going to be an interesting sub-plot to the fixture and he was one of the main protagonists from the outset.
In the third minute, he sent a signal of intent by aggressively challenging Levi Colwill and the Chelsea defence was unsettled by him from that point onwards.
Delap scored the opening goal for the hosts (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
It was his fine run in behind onto Leif Davis’s pass in the 10th minute which ended with Filip Jorgensen being penalised for bringing the forward down in the area. It may have been on the soft side but the same could not be said for his unerring finish from the spot kick into the bottom corner.
He did not rest there. There were wrestling matches with Tosin which earned a few crucial free kicks. There were two more shots which Jorgensen did well to divert to safety. Inevitably Chelsea dominated more of the ball, but Delap was always there to provide an outlet.
It was Delap’s fine work which created the second eight minutes after the break. He ran at Tosin before laying the ball into Hutchinson’s path. The winger still did well to find the bottom corner from there to haunt his old club, yet he would not have got the opportunity had Delap not shown so much composure.
Chelsea will obviously not have enjoyed being on the receiving end of Delap performing like this. However, they had a good close view of what he could offer them in the future should they decide to make a bid and prise him away from Portman Road.
What next for Chelsea?
Saturday, January 4: Crystal Palace (A), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET
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(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
