Chelsea collapsed to a 3-1 loss against Flamengo at the Club World Cup as Nicolas Jackson was shown a straight red card only four minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Enzo Maresca’s side appeared to be in control of the game after Pedro Neto’s breakaway opening goal in the first half but substitute Bruno Henrique’s second-half leveller sparked an implosion.
Chelsea fell behind moments after the equaliser when former Manchester City defender Danilo punished more poor defending, and Jackson’s red card came just three minutes later as he recklessly planted his studs on Ayrton Lucas’ shin.
Jackson’s studs landed on the Flamengo defender’s shin
NIcolas Jackson was shown a straight red card for a reckless tackle
On the day he turned 24, and as he contends with competition for his place from new signing Liam Delap, who impressed on his first start, Jackson’s red card came only six weeks after he was sent off in against Newcastle in the Premier League.
Chelsea’s afternoon went from bad to worse when Wallace Yan, another Flamengo substitute, added the Brazilian side’s third goal to spark more wild celebrations from the vociferous Flamengo fans at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
After their sparsely-attended win over LAFC in their opening game, Chelsea’s second game drew a much bigger crowd, with an official attendance of 54,019 at the 67,594-capacity stadium.
Neto took the opener well following a rapid counter, making it two goals in two games for him at the Club World Cup. Earlier in the first half, Delap had forced a fine save from goalkeeper Agustin Rossi.
Chelsea’s Pedro Neto scored the opener against Flamengo
But Chelsea were let down by their defending in the second period as Henrique was left free to turn home Gonzalo Plata’s header across goal before Danilo added the quick-fire second following more slack marking at a corner.
Jackson’s sending-off effectively killed Chelsea’s hopes of a recovery, with Yan’s goal sealing another big win for a Brazilian side at the tournament after Botafogo’s 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
The result puts Flamengo three points clear of second-placed Chelsea in Group D, meaning the Blues still have work to do to qualify for the knockout stages.
Mikel blasts Jackson’s ‘stupid’ red card
Speaking to DAZN, former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel blasted Jackson for his red-card challenge. “Unbelievable,” he said. “Stupid, stupid, stupid mistake.
“I don’t know what’s going through his head. You come into the game, you’re 2-1 down, your team needs you, and you do that.
“He did it in the important Premier League game against Newcastle, when we needed to win to qualify for the Champions League places, and he has done it again.
“You can’t keep making mistakes.
“I don’t care what his frustration is Chelsea is a massive football club and it’s about competition.
“If you are angry, if you are p****d off that Delap is coming to the club and he is going to be your competition, you have to embrace it.
“If you are a big player, you embrace it.”
Maresca: Red card made it complicated
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca told DAZN of Chelsea’s second-half collapse: “The game completely changed.
“Unfortunately we conceded two goals in a very short period and then, with the red card, it’s very complicated to come back. We tried, but congratulations to them.”
Pressed on Jackson’s sending-off, Maresca said: “It was a red card, so nothing to say.
“Congratulations to Flamengo. I think they deserved to win.
“We tried to do something different during the game, for next season and the future.
“But we have one more game and we are going to try to win the next one.”
Cucurella: Jackson will learn from it
Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella was also asked about Jackson’s red card, telling DAZN: “It is a bit of bad luck. He tried to put his foot in to kick the ball but he kicked the player’s leg. That’s it.
“We now miss him for the next game. He is a young player with a lot of quality and maybe he needs to improve this. We are not perfect, it’s part of the game.”
On Chelsea’s performance, he added: “For the majority we controlled the game well.
“When we conceded the first goal I think they had this good feeling because their fans started to be loud, and immediately after we conceded the second one. This is a thing that we have to improve.
“We need to control the game more, suffer in some moments, but the most important thing is that we have another game and if we win we go through and that’s it.”
Who do Chelsea play next?
Chelsea play their final group D fixture on Wednesday against Tunisian side ES Tunis, kick-off 2am.
