AFTER months of relentless positivity, Chelsea are back into ‘billionaire bottle jobs’ territory.
That was the wounding barb spat out by Gary Neville last season to describe Mauricio Pochettino’s under-achieving Blues.
PALiam Delap helped fire Ipswich to their first home win in the Premier League since 2002[/caption]
AFPChelsea are now winless in their last three games[/caption]
Enzo Maresca seemed to have consigned all of that to the trash – whatever day the binmen might be coming this week.
But here, Chelsea’s lavishly-assembled team were made to look foolish by an Ipswich side who hadn’t won at home all season.
Maresca was right about one thing – Chelsea were never in a title race.
After taking just one point out of nine over the festive period, they are now ten points adrift of Liverpool having played a game more.
The Scousers will be crowing before Easter at this rate.
But Maresca has been wrong about everything else of late, including his team selection here – as he dropped Nicolas Jackson and Jadon Sancho, among five changes, and saw his side defeated for a second successive match.
Maresca was involved in a Championship title race with Ipswich while in charge of Leicester last season and so he should have known that lightweight options like Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku might be vulnerable to a bullying here. So it proved.
Chelsea’s owners were also made to look daft by the identity of Ipswich’s second goalscorer, Omari Hutchinson, one of the promising homegrown youngsters they flogged for what they call ‘pure profit’ under Profit and Sustainability Rules.
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AFPDelap fired Ipswich in front from the penalty spot[/caption]
ReutersOmari Hutchinson scored the second with a tidy finish[/caption]
GettyHutchinson pulled off a stunning flip to celebrate against his former team[/caption]
The £20m received from the Tractor Boys for the winger last summer will not look so pure after this.
Aside from the sublime Cole Palmer – who hit the woodwork twice and delivered the pass of the night for a disallowed Felix goal – Chelsea were bang average.
Ipswich, who led through an early penalty won and converted by Liam Delap, are now just a point away from the safety line after finally breaking their Portman Road duck.
On Boxing Day, the Blues didn’t even look to be the best team in their London SW6 postcode, when Fulham stormed Stamford Bridge.
That shock defeat led to wholesale changes, including Filip Jorgensen replacing Robert Sanchez in goal.
This was Chelsea’s first visit to Portman Road for a quarter of a century, predating Roman Abramovich’s takeover of the club.
And while the novelty of welcoming the Premier League elite teams was beginning to wear off for the Tractor Boys fans, McKenna’s men sensed from the off that Chelsea were wobbly.
Hutchinson provided the early threat, darting down the right and centring for Nathan Broadhead, whose shot was blocked near the line by Tosin Adarabioyo.
Soon, the breakthrough arrived and it was a shocker for Jorgensen.
Leif Davis delivered a through-ball which wrong-footed Moises Caicedo and the Chelsea keeper rushed off his line to clip the trailing leg of Delap.
Ref John Brooks pointed to the spot and there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it. Delap rammed home the spot-kick.
Delap almost had another soon after – Marc Cucurella’s attempted clearance charged down by Hutchinson, allowing the centre-forward to leather a shot which Jorgensen pushed out.
The confidence which had been surging through Maresca’s side just a fortnight ago appeared to be gone.
Chelsea did, though, have Cole Palmer, who never has to worry about confidence and will win the Ballon d’Or before long.
When Nkunku won a free-kick outside the box, Chelsea’s man from the chiller cabinet curled his shot against the post – Nkunku’s follow-up straight at Walton.
Then Palmer – who imagines passes nobody else could ever dream of – thought of a picturesque centre with the outside of his boot, then delivered it to the far post.
There, Felix found the roof of the net and VAR Michael Oliver took approximately half an hour to agree with what was obvious from a single glance at the replay. Felix was offside.
Chelsea decided they ought to pass Ipswich into oblivion but it was still too frantic in front of goal.
Cucurella belted one wide, Caicedo hammered one over. They needed one to fall for their iceman.
On an Ipswich break, Delap thumped a shot towards the near post and Jorgensen tipped it wide.
But then it was Palmer again. Turning a misplaced pass from Enzo Fernandez into an opportunity to humiliate his marker, Jens Cajuste, Palmer advanced and curled a wicked shot which Walton pushed onto the bar.
After the break, Felix had a header cleared off the line by Wes Burns, Madueke was repelled by Walton.
But just like the first half, Ipswich stunned their visitors with an early goal.
Dozy Axel Disasi played a ridiculous pass straight to Delap who advanced and laid off for Hutchinson to wriggle between two defenders to steer a shot past Jorgensen.
All too late, Maresca sent for Jackson but Ipswich had their tails up now and Delap threatened a third goal.
Late on, Davis started – and won – a shoving match with sub Malo Gusto.
Chelsea’s billionaire kids had had their dinner money stolen.
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