Chelsea 2-2 Ipswich: 4 talking points as Blues slip again in Champions League race
- Chelsea came from two goals down to earn a point
- The Blues are locked in a fiendishly tight race for the top five
- Ipswich's optimism was rewarded
Chelsea suffered another stumble in the race for Champions League qualification as they were consigned to a 2-2 draw at home to struggling Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon.
It may feel like one point gained for the Blues after trailing by two goals at the half-time interval, but the dramatically tight nature of the race for the Premier League's top five ensures that any points dropped will be sorely missed - especially against a side destined for the drop.
Despite the draw, Ipswich are 14 points adrift of safety, but will surely take comfort from their unbeaten record against Chelsea this season.
How the game unfolded
"It will be a tough game, no doubt," Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insisted before kick-off. The Blues threatened to undermine their manager's prediction inside the opening exchanges.
Nicolas Jackson crashed a close-range effort off the post, Noni Madueke ruffled the outer edge of the woodwork and Enzo Fernandez should really have guided his effort underneath the crossbar from an open patch of grass inside the penalty area. Levi Colwill forced a good save from an increasingly busy Alex Palmer.
Yet, mystic Maresca couldn't be completely overlooked.
Like a clap of thunder out of a cloudless blue sky, the visitors took a 1-0 lead. Julio Enciso's poked effort was his team's first shot on target and second touch in the penalty area. Ben Johnson's low ball across the box to tee up his Paraguayan teammate was just Ipswich's 11th pass outside their own half.
Emboldened by their shock advantage, Ipswich launched another forward foray 12 minutes after their first. The pink arrows struck straight through the heart of the bizarrely exposed hosts, with Enciso crossing for Johnson to head in at the back post.
The second-half was not 20 seconds old before Chelsea halved the deficit. Madueke eased away from a lumbering Cameron Burgess before blasting a low ball into the six-yard box towards Marc Cucurella which Axel Tuanzebe unwittingly diverted into his own net.
The Blues continued to push and probe but struggled to carve open the clear openings which they had squandered during the opening 15 minutes of the match. It took a sweet hit from Jadon Sancho to haul Chelsea level in the 79th minute, bending a sumptuous effort beyond the dive of Alex Palmer from the corner of the box.
Despite Chelsea's abundance of shots, Ipswich's goalkeeper had been a spectator for much of the second half. Alex Palmer maintained his focus to deny Trevoh Chalobah, his Chelsea namesake Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez in the closing stages to preserve a hard-earned point for the visitors.
Champions League battle building to dramatic climax
Arsene Wenger was routinely mocked for claiming that Champions League qualification was worthy of a trophy. Yet, especially after the lucrative expansion of the tournament, making it into Europe's premier club competition promises riches offered by few other avenues.
Manchester City crashed out of this season's Champions League before the round of 16 yet still banked around £66m. That's not even considering the myriad of sponsorship bonuses afforded to any club that will play host to European football on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. For comparison, Chelsea have so far earned £10.9m for romping through the Conference League.
With Liverpool and Arsenal locking the door to the division's top two, Chelsea are one of at least five clubs competing for three remaining slots. Sunday's draw helped the Blues sneak above Aston Villa on goal difference into fifth spot, with Nottingham Forest three points ahead in third and Manchester City just one point better off in fourth.
Newcastle United are not only very much part of the jostling pack, but have the advantage of games in hand. Fulham and Brighton may still have one eye on a late surge.
Jadon Sancho blasts frosty greeting
Maresca's first substitution of the second half proved to be doubling frustrating for Chelsea fans. Not only was the team's most penetrative attacking threat in the form of Madueke being taken off, but he was replaced by the divisive figure of Sancho.
There has been much speculation surrounding the future of the Manchester United loanee since it emerged that Chelsea can avoid permanently signing the inconsistent forward for £25m by paying £5m to send him back to Old Trafford this summer.
The groans and grumbles from Stamford Bridge which greeted Sancho's introduction hinted at what match-going fans may want to happen this summer. A blistering equaliser made a mockery of that frosty reception.
Sancho added some much-needed urgency to Chelsea's left wing and almost teed up another goal for Fernandez. With less than two months of the campaign remaining, there won't be too many more opportunities for Sancho to prove his worth.
Marc Cucurella makes his mark
Jose Luis Mendilibar, Cucurella's coach at Eibar, once claimed that the frizzy-haired fullback "doesn't register" on "all those things we measure with all those machines we have." Yet, there have been few Chelsea games this season which have not been painted a distinct shade of Cucurella - for better or worse.
Chelsea's long bundle of bristles was caught chasing his own tail for Ipswich's two goals. The Blues have been adept at preventing counter-attacks this season, conceding just three goals in transition all season. Yet, Cucurella was part of backline which shipped two in 12 first-half minutes as he first failed to block Johnson's cross and then cowered underneath the towering winger.
But Cucurella is not the type of character to admit defeat. Mendilibar did get one thing right about his former player: "He's a footballer". Tearing around the final third with even more reckless abandon than usual, Cucurella forced Tuanzebe into his early own goal and was a constant presence pushing for a late winner.
Ipswich's unlikely optimism persists
Southampton had their fate confirmed last weekend and the future of the other two promoted sides looks similarly bleak. 14 points adrift of salvation with just six games remaining, successive promotions for Ipswich will almost certainly be followed by relegation.
But the mood of the Tractor Boys has been as bright as their neon pink away kit. "Nothing is 100% decided," Kieran McKenna pointed out before this weekend's clash. Tuanzebe insisted that there was still "optimism" and a "positive energy" around the club.
Giving up a two-goal advantage may have delivered a dent to that positivity - particularly in the case of own-goalscorer Tuanzebe - but Ipswich's ability to bloody Chelsea's nose for the second time this season will give some of that travelling contingent hope of a swift return to the top flight.
Player ratings
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