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Nicolas Jackson was sent off for an awful studs-up tackle three minutes after coming on as a substitute as Chelsea imploded in six minutes of madness to lose 3-1 to Flamengo at the Club World Cup.
Chelsea took the lead on 13 minutes when Pedro Neto raced away from deep inside the Flamengo half and opened his body before whipping the ball past Agustin Rossi.
In a lively first-half played in front of a noisy crowd of 54,619, Chelsea were denied a penalty when Enzo Fernandez went down in the box after turning past Gerson, while at the other end Levi Colwill headed the ball off the line from a free kick.
Flamengo had a great chance to take the lead at the start of the second half when Gonzalo Plata couldn’t hook the ball in from close-range. Next, on his first Chelsea start, Liam Delap almost forced a goal by chasing down a long Robert Sanchez clearance.
Then the game exploded. Bruno Henrique equalised on 62 minutes and Danilo put Flamengo ahead three minutes later. As their supporters lost their minds, so did Jackson, seeing red on 68 minutes for a high, studs-up challenge on Ayrton Lucas.
Wallace Yan wrapped up the win with a third on 83 minutes to leave Flamengo in control of Group D — and all of Brazil’s teams unbeaten at the tournament — with Chelsea fighting to qualify for the last 16.
Here The Athletic’s Liam Twomey, Stuart James and Larry Henry Jr break down the key talking points.
What did Jackson do?
Jackson had only been on the pitch for three minutes when he made the most reckless of challenges, lunging into Ayrton Lucas with his studs up. It was a dreadful tackle — can we even call it a tackle? — and led to the most straightforward red card that the referee Ivan Arcides Barton Cisneros will ever brandish. There were no Chelsea complaints. Just a sense of disbelief.
Jackson, lest it be forgotten, was sent off little more than a month ago in the Premier League for throwing an elbow into the head of the Newcastle United defender Sven Botman. Clearly, the striker has learnt nothing from that experience.
There has been a lot of talk about who will be Chelsea’s first-choice striker this season: Delap or Jackson? Delap, who started against Flamengo but was largely ineffective, will now have a clear run at establishing himself as the club’s N0 9. Even if he fails to take that opportunity in the short-term, you would have to question whether Jackson has now lost the trust of his manager and team-mates.
Chelsea were reeling from conceding two goals in quick succession when Jackson was brought on for Delap and badly needed the substitute to bring some presence and penetration to their attack. Instead, he thrust his studs down into Lucas’ left shin and any hopes that Chelsea had of getting something out of the game disappeared.
Stuart James
How good are Brazil’s Club World Cup teams?
Brazilian clubs haven’t shied away from the bright lights of the Club World Cup.
Flamengo’s comeback victory over Chelsea not only advanced them to the tournament’s round of 16, but continued an unbeaten run for Brazil’s contingent overall.
Brazil’s top-flight quartet of Flamengo, Botafogo, Fluminense, and Palmeiras have a combined 5-2-0 record in group stage play, with Fluminense the only club to have not yet played two matches.
Botafogo’s 1-0 upset of reigning Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday sealed their berth into the knockout stage and now Flamengo have now joined them with a victory here.
Palmeiras’ 2-0 victory over Al Ahly on Wednesday marked their first victory of the tournament and also put them into the next round. A draw in against Inter Miami will ensure they qualify top of Group A.
Many of the European heavyweights garnered plenty of the attention before the FIFA Club World Cup began, but it is Brazil’s contingent who are punching above their weight so far this summer.
Larry Henry Jr
Where does this leave Chelsea?
It may be time for everyone to accept that a Brazilian team is going to win this competition.
Chelsea handled Flamengo, top of Brazil’s Serie A heading into the Club World Cup, reasonably impressively for 45 minutes. They matched the intensity of their opponents and of a highly partisan crowd at Lincoln Financial Field, defended solidly when required and played incisive attacking football to earn a narrow but deserved lead.
But the second-half warning signs were there before Bruno Henrique tapped in the equaliser in the 62nd minute. Chelsea’s pace of play dropped, errors multiplied and they dropped steadily deeper towards their own goal, where Sanchez’s workload quickly ramped up.
Flamengo did not wilt nor dip in the Pennsylvania sunshine. That was to be expected; the shock was how quickly and meekly Chelsea caved in, conceding two soft goals from crosses delivered into their penalty area within the space of three minutes.
Jackson’s moment of madness in the 68th minute ensured we will never know if Chelsea would have been able to summon another late surge, but the collapse was well underway when he raised his studs on Ayrton Lucas. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that a serious contender to win this competition would not react so meekly to adversity.
As against Newcastle, Chelsea showed spirit with 10 men to exert real pressure on a nervy Flamengo in the final minutes, but by then Yan had put them 3-1 ahead and it was far too little, far too late. Maresca’s team are now playing for second in Group D.
Liam Twomey
Is Neto now the Chelsea attacker who delivers?
Jackson’s latest self-destructive indiscipline will rightly dominate the post-match conversation but if there was a positive for Chelsea against Flamengo, it was that Neto offered more evidence of his growing importance to Maresca.
Starting on the left to accommodate Cole Palmer’s deployment on the right, the Portugal international attacked space whenever it presented itself, linked play neatly and even created the 13th-minute chance which he clinically converted with some impressive hustle to create panic in the Flamengo defence.
That made it two goals in two Club World Cup matches for Neto, the first time he has scored in back-to-back matches at club level in almost five years.
Such production needs to become more frequent if Neto is to establish himself as one of Maresca’s indispensables, but he has already risen above Noni Madueke to the top of the wing pecking order and on current form he is certain to keep himself on that perch for the remainder of Chelsea’s time in the U.S..
Liam Twomey
How was Reece James in midfield?
When Maresca took over as Chelsea head coach, one of the first things that he did was to send Reece James a video to highlight how he saw his position potentially changing. “When you watch a player, you sometimes need to use imagination and imagine a player doing something. I always imagined him behaving as a midfielder,” Maresca said.
In truth, James’ deployment as a midfielder at times during the second half of the season owed more to Maresca wanting to ease the Chelsea captain back to fitness rather than tactical reasons. Sprinting up and down the right flank isn’t exactly what James needs after all his injury problems.
The experiment continued against Flamengo with unconvincing results. James never looked truly comfortable in that central deep-lying role against an impressive Flamengo side who moved the ball with confidence. It’s all the more curious when you look at the substitutes bench and see Romeo Lavia, Andrey Santos and Dario Essugo, all of whom are midfielders by trade.
By half-time, James had touched the ball just 18 times and completed only 10 of his 14 passes – the lowest passing success rate of anyone in the Chelsea team with the exception of Delap.
In truth, it was no real surprise when he was substituted shortly after the hour mark. He had got away with a bad mistake moments earlier, when Flamengo could and should have scored. That, however, was only a temporary reprieve for Chelsea, who conceded an equaliser minutes later, cue James’ departure.
Stuart James
What next for Flamengo?
Tuesday, June 24: Los Angeles FC, Club World Cup group stage (Orlando), 9pm ET, 2am (Wednesday, June 25) UK
What next for Chelsea?
Tuesday, June 24: ES Tunis, Club World Cup group stage (Philadelphia), 9pm ET, 2am (Wednesday, June 25) UK
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(Top photo: Carl Recine – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
