A year of steadily growing promise for Chelsea finished with a night of throwback misery, inflicted by Enzo Maresca’s former academy charge, Liam Delap, and one of Cobham’s own, Omari Hutchinson.
A 2-0 defeat to newly-promoted Ipswich marked by some margin the worst result of Maresca’s tenure so far, and means the Blues will head into the New Year no longer having to deny their title credentials but instead suddenly dragged back into a battle for the top four.
