McKenna and Ipswich take flight with signature win as Chelsea's festive flop continues
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Chelsea were made to regret discarding Omari Hutchinson as Ipswich finally tasted Premier League victory in front of their own fans.
Hutchinson, sold for a Town record fee in the summer, added to Liam Delap's penalty to end a top-flight home win drought dating back to 2002 when Darren Bent's goal was enough to down Middlesbrough but not stave off relegation.
Chelsea, who would have ended 2024 in second had they won, can can count themselves unlucky in many ways but Ipswich, and Delap and Hutchinson in particular would not be denied.
Both managers decided beforehand it was time for a change of goalkeeper. Robert Sanchez made way for Filip Jorgensen for the visitors while too many errors saw Town discard Aro Muric to give Christian Walton a second Premier League start.
Ipswich, passive in a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal in their previous outing, made a lively start and it took a block by Tosin Adarabioyo to stop Nathan Broadhead from scoring.
That promise bloomed into a 12th minute opener that Chelsea felt was harsh. Jens Cajuste did well under pressure to send Leif Davis into a crossing position on the left and Jorgensen and Delap converged at speed.
Delap got a touch on the ball as he slid past the goalkeeper, who caught the striker with a trailing leg. VAR upheld referee John Brooks' penalty call and Delap smacked the spot-kick into a bottom corner.
That woke Chelsea up and with Cole Palmer pulling the strings as ever Enzo Maresca's men were unlucky to go in at the break still behind.
Palmer hit a free-kick beyond Walton and on to a post and Christopher Nkunku sent the rebound back towards goal. Too close to the goalkeeper however - Walton was able to gather in the process of getting up from a dive.
VAR came to Ipswich's rescue not long after when Palmer found Joao Felix peeling off at the back post for a smart finish. The Barcelona loanee had gone too soon - negligently some might say - and although VAR Michael Oliver took his sweet time over it, a chalking off was inevitable.
Ipswich, with Dara O'Shea working overtime in a three-man defence, remained penned it for a while but Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo were guilty of poor finishes.
Town were reduced to counter-attacking when they could and, after some neat footwork by Broadhead in his own half, Delap bounded through to force Jorgensen into a save.
Walton kept his side in front at the break with a tip-over of a Palmer effort that saw the England man burst into applause. It all added up to a heck of a half.
The second began with as the first had ended with Chelsea pressing for a leveller. Wes Burns headed a Felix header off the line before Walton blocked a shot from Noni Madueke at his near post.
Delap and Hutchinson had other ideas however and doubled the lead via Axel Disasi's error. The defender's pass to Tosin was intercepted by Delap, who loped into the box. Tosin held him up but Delap was able to tee up Hutchinson, who took a touch before steering a low shot beyond Jorgensen.
Maresca had had enough of rotating and sent on Nicolas Jackson for the ineffective Felix before the hour mark.
Broadhead tested Jorgensen at his near post as Ipswich counter-attacked again and time began to run out for Chelsea, whose appeal for a penalty when a clearance hit Jacob Greaves on an arm were ignored by the officials.
Television cameras panned to a smiling Ed Sheeran, a Town shareholder and shirt sponsor as well as number one celebrity fan. Another Delap solo mission forced Jorgensen into a save before Jackson poked wastefully wide at the other end - and was offside anyway.
It summed up Chelsea's evening - which belonged to Ipswich, and not even a bad-tempered coming together of both sets of players on the whistle could dampen celebrations.
Walton 8; O'Shea 7, Woolfenden 7, Greaves 7; Burns 6 (Johnson 86, 2), Morsy 7, Cajuste 7 (Phillips 77, 3), Davis 6; Hutchinson 8, Delap 9, Broadhead 7 (Szmodics 77, 3). Muric, Townsend, Taylor, Chaplin, J Clarke, Al-Hamadi.
Jorgensen 6; Disasi 5 (Gusto 77, 3), Adarabioyo 7, Colwill 6, Cucurella 6; Caicedo 6, Fernandez 6; Madueke 5 (Neto 77, 3), Palmer 8, Felix 5 (Jackson 55, 5); Nkunku 6 (Sancho 65, 4). Sanchez, Acheampong, James, Veiga, Guiu.
John Brooks 6