By Samuel A. April 13, 2025
Ipswich town fought hard to earn a draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, courtesy of goals from Julio Enciso and Ben Johnson, as well as several saves from Alex Palmer to deny the home team a complete comeback. The Ipswich goalkeeper kept out Trevoh Chalobah, Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez as Chelsea fought to add a third after a second half Axel Tuanzebe own goal and a Jadon Sancho stunner cancelled out Ipswich’s first half double.
In denying the comeback, Chelsea failed to respond after their top five rivals Aston Villa and Manchester City won big this weekend.
Newcastle’s victory over Manchester United later on Sunday evening leaves Chelsea sixth, a point off City, who sit in the final Champions League qualifying position.
Kieran Mckenna surprisingly fielded a starting XI without Liam Delap in a tactical tweak. In a dominant first 18 minutes, Chelsea’s relentless pressure had seen Nicolas Jackson hit the post. Alex Palmer was called upon to make a couple of strong saves to keep out close range efforts from Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke.
In a flash, Chelsea would quickly rue their missed chances as a rare move beyond the halfway line for Ipswich saw them take the lead against the run of play, with Julio Enciso poking home from a Ben Johnson cutback. Ipswich’s second, in a similar vein to the first, had Chelsea rocked by a transition, this time Johnson heading home from an Enciso cross.
Chelsea burst out of the blocks in the second half almost immediately to get one back, 18 seconds into the second half when Marc Cucurella’s effort was turned in by Tuanzebe. Sancho, off the bench, then curled home his first Stamford Bridge goal for Chelsea, which gave Maresca hope, but their hopes were in vain, as Alex Palmer kept denying the hosts a win.
Ipswich can take pride from their performance, but their hopes for survival continue to dwindle after Wolves pulled further away with victory over Tottenham.
