Familiar woes for tepid Chelsea against Ipswich as Champions League hopes weaken again | OneFootball

Champions League football edging away from Chelsea ahead of difficult run-in

Losing ground: Chelsea continue to drop points in the Champions League battle

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Chelsea knew the drill at Stamford Bridge, and it appeared a routine one.

A 2-2 home draw with Ipswich was a really poor result for the Blues, not least because their season run-in is now as follows: Fulham (away), Everton (home), Liverpool (home), Newcastle (away), Manchester United (home), Nottingham Forest (away). One could not help but feel a place among Europe’s elite was slipping away at Stamford Bridge.

Ipswich seldom touched the ball inside the first 20 minutes and yet that’s when Julio Enciso prodded the visitors ahead. ‘Against the run of play’ did not do it justice.

Chelsea’s disfunction was exemplified in the way they approached the five minutes leading up to Ben Johnson doubling Ipswich's lead, when the sun hid behind the clouds and the winds picked up around Stamford Bridge.

Twice, Levi Colwill delayed taking a goal-kick to harangue his team-mates, first for disappearing too far away from the ball and then for not moving far enough away from it. The home crowd grew restless, urging Colwill and Chelsea to pick the pace up.

From the second goal-kick, within three passes Noni Madueke was being pressed into hoofing the ball across the pitch. Surprise, surprise, an Ipswich header was there to meet it. Within seconds, the visitors were flashing a shot just wide. Within two minutes, they had doubled their lead.

Ipswich twice stunned Chelsea against the run of play

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Even after that second, Chelsea were so tepid and lifeless, at a loss for how to unpick a packed defence. Blues fans have become very used to that this season, particularly since Christmas.

Maresca had kept his composure when both of Ipswich’s goals went in, but must have rollicked his players at the break because they returned from the dressing room a different team, energised and uninhibited and scoring through a Noni Madueke cross for an Axel Tuanzebe own goal after just 17 seconds.

Ten minutes of non-stop Chelsea pressure followed, and fans will ask why their directness in this period was not seen at all throughout that first half, Chelsea’s eighth in a row without scoring.

Even in this purple patch, it was noticeable how hard Chelsea were having to work to create each chance compared with Ipswich, who with one simple breakaway had George Hirst cutting inside Trevoh Chalobah and curling wide of Robert Sanchez’s far post by only a matter of inches.

Chelsea had been so dominant before Enciso’s opener against the run of play on 20 minutes. They then appeared to completely lose their heads. The entirety of the second half was a case of the Blues piling constant pressure on Ipswich.

Pedro Neto thundered a volley just over, Cole Palmer — largely ineffectual again — saw efforts blocked, before the leveller did belatedly arrive for the Blues, Palmer finding substitute Jadon Sancho who curled a beauty into the far-right corner. It was Sancho’s greatest Chelsea goal and even raised a few smiles from those in blue.

The difference between a point and three would be huge in the race for Champions League football, though, and Chelsea had left themselves long to find a winner.

Cue a typical 10 minutes of Chelsea under Maresca: a paralysis of working the ball from left to right then right to left and back again.

Palmer and Enzo Fernandez were denied by majestic saves by Alex Palmer in stoppage time, both moments prompting Maresca to draw his fingers slowly down his face. He knew exactly what this could mean for Chelsea’s Champions League hopes. Everyone did.