Football
Chelsea Lose Ground In Champions League Race With Entertaining Draw Against Ipswich Town
James is an experienced writer covering a wide range of sports, including Premier League and European football, Rugby Union, WWE and the NFL. Having studied English & Creative Writing at Plymouth University, James completed a master's degree in Digital & Social Media Marketing before pursuing a career in Journalism. He then graduated from News Associates in Manchester after finishing their NCTJ Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia Sports Journalism. Since then, James spent time writing for GameRant before ing Reach PLC, where he featured regularly in publications such as the Daily Mirror, Football.LDN, Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, as well as dozens of local titles. Now at SportsCasting, James provides expert analysis and detailed research features, as well as covering breaking news stories.
Get to know James Chittick betterPublished13 Apr 2025
Watch Chelsea Vs Ipswich Town highlights as Chelsea came from two goals down to salvage a point against relegation-bound Ipswich Town.
Chelsea suffered a major blow to their Champions League qualification chances as they could only rescue a draw against 18th-placed Ipswich Town at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues looked to be in control early on but went behind in the 19th minute when midfielder Julio Encisco – on loan from Brighton – turned home Ben Johnson’s cross for his first goal in Ipswich colours.
Encisco was then on hand to set up Ipswich’s second goal, with a beautiful dinked ball for Johnson to head in at the back post and put the Tractor Boys 2-0 up at half-time.
Within just 20 seconds of play resuming after the break, Axel Tuanzebe’s own goal halved the deficit.
But it wasn’t until the final ten minutes that Chelsea were able to draw level.
Substitute Jadon Sancho found the top corner with a sumptuous, curling strike from a corner to rescue a point for Enzo Maresca’s men.
Both Pedro Neto and Trevor Chalobah came close to scoring a winner, but Chelsea couldn’t avoid dropping two massive points against an opponent they’d expect to have beaten.
Watch: Chelsea Vs Ipswich Town Highlights
The result leaves Chelsea in fifth, three points below third-placed Nottingham Forest.
Only ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference, they could fall further still if Newcastle beat Manchester United in the later Sunday afternoon game.
Ipswich, meanwhile, remain 18th and 14 points from safety thanks to Wolves’ win against Tottenham on Saturday.
Next up, Chelsea have a Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg against Legia Warsaw on Thursday.
They won 3-0 in Poland in the first leg, so are well-placed to secure a spot in the semi’s.
For Ipswich, They have the daunting prospect of hosting Arsenal on Sunday in the Premier League.
Should they beat the Gunners and Liverpool avoid a slip-up against Leicester City, the Premier League title could be wrapped up next weekend.