NICOLAS Jackson was sent off four minutes after coming on as a substitute as Chelsea suffered a second-half collapse against Flamengo at the Fifa Club World Cup.
The Blues led through Pedro Neto but conceded twice and lost Jackson to a red card in a disastrous six-minute spell after half-time.
Neto’s cool finish under the goalkeeper’s legs delivered a positive start for the Premier League side but similar far post tap-ins from substitute Bruno Henrique and Danilo allowed the Brazilian team to take the lead.
Referee Ivan Barton then quickly issued a red card after Jackson’s studs made contact with Lucas Ayrton’s shin in an ugly challenge with Wallace Yan rounding off the scoring to deliver a damaging 3-1 defeat to Chelsea.
It leaves the Blues needing a win over African club ES Tunis on Tuesday to qualify for the last 16 but also increases the chances they will face the winner of Group C, which could be Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
Flamengo, meanwhile, look likely to finish top of Group D and have ensured South American clubs remain undefeated in the newly-expanded Club World Cup.
On his 24th birthday, Jackson changed the match for Chelsea but only for the worse.
Manager Enzo Maresca brought on the Senegal international for new rival striker Liam Delap after two defensive lapses but his introduction only ensured Chelsea would have no chance of a comeback.
It’s the latest incident which will put Jackson’s disciplinary record under increased scrutiny as he is now suspended in two competitions simultaneously: the Club World Cup and Premier League.
Maresca had challenged Jackson to make amends to his team-mates before the Conference League final against Real Betis in which he scored in, but just two games later he has earned himself another suspension.
The only real positive from a Chelsea perspective was Pedro Neto looking dangerous and claiming his second goal in as many games.
However, after making four changes and tweaking the formation, the Blues looked disjointed throughout tand deserved to lose with a number of poor performers, notably goalkeeper Robert Sanchez who kept getting caught with errant passes out from the back.
Delap was also quiet in attack on his first start with Maresca now having plenty of headaches for the final group stage match.
Flamengo came out on top in pretty much every metric – more possession, more shots, more tackles, more duels won, more passes and, most importantly, more goals.
Chelsea face ES Tunis and Flamengo face LAFC in two matches which kick off at the same time on Tuesday at 21:00 local time (02:00 BST) to decide the final standings in Group D.