Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca addressed the controversial penalty that contributed to his side's 2-0 defeat to Ipswich Town on Monday.

The Tractor Boys were awarded an early penalty in the first half when Liam Delap was adjudged to have been brought down by Blues goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen inside the 18-yard box.

Referee John Brooks showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot and VAR quickly agreed reaffirmed his decision after a brief check. However, replays appeared to show there was little or no contact between Delap and Jorgensen, with the striker losing his balance at least one occasion.

The Premier League released a statement clarifying that the penalty was given due to there being contact between Delap and Jorgensen.

It read: "The referee’s call of penalty for a foul by Jorgensen on Delap was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty."

Reacting to the incident after the game in his post-match press conference, Maresca took the surprising view that Chelsea could not complain about the incident.

"They [the players] said it's a bit soft but we have to accept it's a penalty," the Italian said.

Despite their manager's words, Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill were booked for dissent late on and the former had to be held back from arguing with Ipswich's players, having been left apparently furious with the referee's performance.

When asked if he thought it was a penalty, Delap admitted he wasn't sure if Jorgensen had made contact with him or not.

"I don't know what clipped me but something did," he added. "I just tried to get there before him [Filip Jorgensen] and he was coming out fast so I knew he'd touch me if I didn't get it round him.

"We've had three or four opportunities where we've not had the penalty we probably deserved so nice to get that one and put it in the back of the net. I've practiced them a million times so just aimed for the corner and put it there.

It was a night to forget for Chelsea as they hit the woodwork twice and had a goal from Joao Felix chalked off for offside. Then their former winger Omari Hutchinson, who joined Ipswich for £22million in July, bagged a second to condemn them to back-to-back defeats.

Maresca, who made four changes to the side including dropping goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and striker Nicolas Jackson to the bench, rued his side's inability to convert chances.

"[It was] a bit of a strange game in terms of I think, we created so many chances first-half," he said. "Early in the second [half], we had some chances again. The second goal killed the game a bit.

"We made four changes from the last game because they all deserve to play. Now we've finished the first part of the season, no one expected us to be where we are. We are in a good position but we can do many things better. It's a long race.

Chelsea will finish 2024 inside the top four but drop behind Nottingham Forest and Arsenal after picking up one point from their last three games.