Ipswich Beat Chelsea For First Home Victory In The Premier League Since 2002

Ipswich Town beat Chelsea to make history (Instagram/@ipswichtown).

JAKARTA - Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson contributed Ipswich Town's goal to silence Chelsea 2-0 in Week 19 of the 2024 Premier League at Portman Road, Tuesday, December 31, 2024, early morning WIB.

The win not only meant three points for Ipswich, but also ended nearly 23 years of waiting to win the Premier League game at home.

Since April 2002, and a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough, Ipswich has never celebrated the success of homes in the Premier League.

However, surprisingly Ipswich was able to make that history by beating Chelsea who was recently on the rise due to his performance.

The three additional points made them successfully move up to 18th place with a collection of 15 points.

Meanwhile, the game was interesting. The hosts' hopes increased from the start with a penalty, when Leif Davis' pass was received by Delap, who slid to try to reach the ball.

However, his leg was caught by Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen when he exited the line.

It was Ipswich's first penalty in the league season. The race managed to execute him in the 12th minute after beating Jorgensen to please the hosts.

"We have worked hard this season and the results are unsatisfactory. Our performance deserves to win."

"Today we showed that we were extraordinary. We defended well, attacked them well. We were excited," said Delap.

Shortly thereafter, Jorgensen made a brilliant save as Delap fired hard from a tight angle, before Chelsea took control of the game and did almost everything to find an equalizer.

Joao Felix actually managed to equalize in the 24th minute, but he was declared offside after a long VAR check.

Opportunities then came through Cole Palmer, but his shot still hit the post twice.

The first chance with a curling free kick was taken quickly. The bouncing ball fell to Christopher Nkunku's feet, who immediately directed it to Christianqur. However, the Ipswich goalkeeper was still able to secure Nkunku's ball.

UR also thwarted Palmer's efforts with a brilliant save towards the end of the first half.

The expected equalizer goal never happened. Ipswich took a 2-0 lead early in the second half.

Hutchinson, who moved from Chelsea to Ipswich with a club record transfer of 20 million before this season began, paid part of his transfer fee with a smart finish for the second goal.

The goal was created thanks to a wrong pass from Axel Disasi, which was won by Delap. The striker then ran fast, before passing him to Hutchinson, who finally released the perfect finish.

Hutchinson's goal is the perfect end to closing exciting 2024 for the club, which was promoted at the end of last season.

"It's great to be able to write history and finally get the first win at home," Hutchinson told reporters after the game.

Meanwhile, Chelsea were clearly hit again for hope of winning the title. This defeat left them only one point from the last three matches and dropped to fourth place in the 2024/2025 Premier League standings.

Now, the Blues are 10 points clear of leaders Liverpool.