OMARI Hutchinson showed Chelsea what they are missing to earn Ipswich a first home win and supply Enzo Maresca with more evidence that his team are incapable of a title challenge. Hutchinson, who made the permanent switch from Stamford Bridge in the summer, had no hesitation when embarking on a series of backflips to celebrate making it 2-0 after Liam Delap gave Ipswich an early lead from the spot.
And Maresca could have no complaints. The Chelsea boss made five changes only to see his fringe players fail to grasp their chance to impress. Joao Felix and Axel Disasi, in particular, delivered stinkers and not even Cole Palmer, the calendar year’s top scorer, could make a decisive impact against an Ipswich side featuring six players that earned promotion from League One two seasons ago.
They are now one point from safety and manager Kieran McKenna hailed the win as his “best individual result” while stressing the need to keep improving. “We've had some really good performances at home,” he added. “But to get one over the line after a couple of really close ones, against a team like Chelsea, is pretty special.”.
Maresca’s men, on the other hand, trail Liverpool by 10 points with an extra game played having taken just one draw from three festive fixtures. “A strange game,” Maresca said. “It's almost impossible not to have a moment like now. “We're in the right direction but this also shows we're far from competing consistently to be there with the best team in England.”.
