Enzo Maresca opens up on why he felt Ipswich defeat was “a bit of a strange game” | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has described Chelsea’s defeat to Ipswich at Portman Road on Monday night as a bit of a “strange game.”

The Blues wee second best for the majority of the 90 minutes, especially in the first half and they slumped to a 2-0 defeat to hand the Tractor Boys their first home win of the season.

Chelsea transfer target Liam Delap impressed and he won and converted a first half penalty before former Blue Omari Hutchinson added the second after the break.

Maresca describes Ipswich defeat as a strange game

Having suffered defeat against Fulham on Boxing Day, Maresca said he would make changes for Ipswich and he handed rare league starts to Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Axel Disasi and Filip Jorgensen.

It’s fair to say none of them did anything to suggest they should be starting on a more regular basis and it’s now just one goal in the last three games for Maresca’s men.

Palmer had a quiet evening, whilst Nkunku offered nothing as a number nine, and Maresca admitted after the game he expected the Blues to have a drop in form this season.

Chelsea slumped to their fourth defeat of the season at Portman Road.

Marc Cucurella has urged the squad to keep working hard and not become disheartened, but Saturday’s game against Crystal Palace has now gone up a level in importance.

Sharing his thoughts after the game, Maresca described the defeat as a “bit of a strange game” and cited the number of chances created.

“A bit of a strange game. We created so many chances in the first-half and in the first five or 10 minutes of the second-half, we had two clear chances; the header from Joao [Felix] and another shot,” he told his post match press-conference.

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“Then I think the second goal killed the game a little bit. Sometimes when you create so many chances, the post, the VAR, the keeper saves or the defenders that block the shot, sometimes it has to go in that way.

“It’s a shame because it was another chance for us but congratulations to them because probably when you save so many shots on the line, the goalkeeper, the body, the desire from them was very high.”