Chelsea star issues apology to team-mates after FIFA Club World Cup defeat to Flamengo

Nicolas Jackson apologised to his teammates after being sent off as Chelsea wilted in the searing hot sunshine. Chelsea hothead Jackson got his marching orders on his 24th BIRTHDAY just FOUR MINUTES after coming on as a substitute for a shocking X-rated challenge.

It compounded six minutes of second half madness for Chelsea as Flamengo turned the game on its head and went from 1-0 down to 2-1 up before Jackson got sent off.

Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella said: “He’s very sad. He tried to win the ball, had the bad luck that he kicked his leg and that’s it. He’s a young player with a lot of quality but maybe needs to improve a little bit in these things.

“But he has to learn. After the manager spoke, he said sorry, he didn’t do it on purpose. He’s a very important player for us, we will miss him in the next game but this is football.”

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, who now needs to win their final Group match with Club Tunis to guarantee a place in the knock-out, added: “It was a red card, so nothing else to say. They deserved to win.”

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The Brazilians have been too good for the best Europe has to offer after Botafogo beat Paris Saint Germain and now Flamengo humbled Chelsea after they surrendered Pedro Neto’s first half lead. No-one deserves more blame than Jackson who missed the tail end of the Premier League season after a red card for an elbow at Newcastle which earned him a three game ban.

There was no excuse for his appalling studs-up challenge on Flamengo’s Ayrton Lucas which in this competition gets an automatic one game ban which FIFA can review and upgrade.

Frankly, they should throw the book at him and it is no wonder that Maresca signed Liam Delap because he cannot trust Jackson.

Jackson has so much talent but his reckless temperament makes him a liability and suddenly, from winning their first game, the mood will change in the Chelsea camp.

They looked good early on when Neto gave them a 13th minute lead, bursting between Flamengo defenders Wesley and Danilo and racing away for a clean run on goal before his shot flew past keeper Augustin Rossi.

But Chelsea could not find a second and Flamengo dominated the second half as the temperature rose in the stadium in front of 54,019 fans in the Lincoln Financial Field.

Gonzalo Plata missed a sitter before he provided the assist for Bruno Henrique to level after 62 minutes. Chelsea could not deal with a set piece and Danilo was first to react to turn the game on its head three minutes later.

Jackson then got his marching orders before Wallace Yan got the third as more chaos ensued in the heart of the Chelsea defence.

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