Chelsea have been dealt a blow in their quest to qualify for the knockout stage of the Club World Cup following a 3-1 defeat to Flamengo on Friday.
After claiming a 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC in their opening game, Enzo Maresca’s men had the chance to book their place in the round of 16.
Flamengo swarmed onto Chelsea early on and caused problems with their high-intensity pressing.
However, Chelsea had the game’s first real opportunity in the fifth minute as Liam Delap called Agustin Rossi into action.
The Blues opened the scoring in the 13th minute when a loose ball in midfield ricocheted to Pedro Neto, who raced through on goal and finished with aplomb.
Despite going behind, Flamengo stayed alive in the contest and continued to worry Chelsea with their pace.
After a high-octane opening half hour, the game settled into a more pedestrian encounter, with both teams showing some signs of early fatigue.
Flamengo were almost rewarded with an equaliser three minutes shy of the interval via Gerson, whose goalbound effort was cleared off the line by Levi Colwill.
Down the other end, Wesley Franca needed to be on high alert to deny Delap from close range.
A defensive mix-up at the start of the second half nearly provided Flamengo with an equaliser, but Gerson and Gonzalo Plata were unable to convert decent opportunities seconds apart.
Chelsea nearly benefited from another moment of generosity from their Brazilian counterparts as Leo Pereira came within inches of putting the ball into his own net.
Plata was denied by Sanchez shortly afterwards, and from the resulting corner, Flamengo put together a fine move which was finished off by Bruno Henrique.
With the momentum now firmly with them, Flamengo struck for a second time in three minutes, with Henrique turning provider this time around for Danilo to finish from close range.
Things went from bad to worse for Chelsea midway through the second half as the Premier League side were reduced to ten men following a red card for Nicolas Jackson.
Chelsea were up against it from that point and conceded again seven minutes from time. Wallace Yan was played through on goal by Plata, and he kept his nerve to finish beyond Sanchez.
That rounded off an emphatic win for Flamengo, who will now head into their final group-stage clash against Los Angeles aiming to qualify as group winners.
Chelsea still have their fate in their own hands, as a win over Esperance Tunis in the final game would guarantee them a place in the knockout stage.
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