Flamengo 3-1 Chelsea: Blues collapse in disaster second half

Chelsea stumbled in the city famed for stepping up and, worse still, it was their own striker in Nicolas Jackson who gave them a good kicking when they were already tumbling down.

Enzo Maresca’s side had looked like shoo-ins to reach the Club World Cup’s knockout stages as they led Flamengo here in Philadelphia. They could have spent their weekend visiting the Rocky Steps and such, rather than thinking of their final group game versus Tunisian side ES Tunis.

But then the dire defending kicked in. Chelsea conceded once and then twice as the Brazilians made use of their opponents masquerading as mannequins to take the lead.

Jackson was introduced to try to save the game in the 64th minute, replacing Liam Delap. By the 68th, he was being dismissed for raking his studs down Ayrton Lucas’ shin. It was a remarkably reckless act, and well worth the red card he received.

There could be no defending it, and no coming back from it for Chelsea, who went on to concede a third to Flamengo. ‘It was a red card so nothing else to say,’ commented Maresca afterwards. ‘They deserved to win.’

We will need to see whether Jackson can come back from this himself. This is not the first time he has hamstrung his team. It was his straight red away at Newcastle towards the end of the last Premier League season that so nearly cost them in their Champions League chase.

Now it will be over to Delap to lean the Chelsea line in the searing heat of the United States.

Any suggestions that the Club World Cup is a glorified pre-season competition were at odds with the competitive start to this fixture. The tackles were flying in, with one in particular from Moises Caicedo on Jorginho – the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder who signed for Flamengo two weeks ago at 33 years old – winning him an early caution.

Chelsea defended the Flamengo set-piece from that free-kick and, 10 seconds later, Maresca’s side scored as Pedro Neto sprinted forward on to Reece James’ clearance, capitalised on calamitous defending from Wesley Franca, and finished his one-v-one.

Flamengo threatened to equalise and one foul by Marc Cucurella led to Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s free-kick cross being volleyed by Gerson. It was heading in until Levi Colwill’s goal-line clearance.

Brazilian sides were unbeaten at the Club World Cup heading into this clash. Palmeiras, Botafogo, Fluminense and Flamengo – none had lost in the United States.

There may have been a few reasons for that, perhaps, including how they are only 11 games into their domestic season. They are fit, their fans are fiery, and they are used to these temperatures.

Flamengo levelled it up in the 62ns minute when Chelsea’s defenders watched as Gonzalo Plata’s header was tapped in by Bruno Henrique. In the 65th, Henrique turned provider as he set up Danilo to make it 2-1.

Then came Jackson’s moment of madness. He was introduced to try to save the game. Instead, he ruined it from Chelsea’s perspective. Within four minutes of his introduction, Jackson stamped on Lucas. It was a violent challenge, and well worth the straight red he was shown, as Flamengo made use of their man advantage with substitute Wallace Yan scoring their third.

Chelsea have given Jackson plenty of chances to prove his worth. He is a talented striker, but then he could do with remembering a player’s biggest strength is his availability.