Enzo Maresca was tight-lipped after a red card for substitute Nicolas Jackson essentially killed off any chances Chelsea had of rescuing a result against Flamengo.
The striker endured a miserable 24th birthday as he was sent off in the Club World Cup just four minutes after coming on.
He received a straight red card for a dreadful challenge on Ayrton Lucas as Chelsea lost 3-1 to the Brazilian side, having led 1-0 at half-time.
Jackson will miss Chelsea’s third and final group game against ES Tunis on Wednesday. His absence will likely open the door for Liam Delap, the Blues’ newest signing, for another start after he led the line-up against Flamengo.
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“It was a red card. So nothing to say,” Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca told DAZN after the game.
“Congratulations to them, they deserved to win. We tried to do something different, also for next season, for the future, but congratulations to them. I think they deserved it.”
He said he had not yet spoken to Jackson after the sending-off.
“It is a bit of bad luck,” Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella said afterwards. “He [Jackson] tried to put his foot in to kick the ball but he kicked the player’s leg. That’s it. We now miss him for the next game.
“He is a young player with a lot of quality and maybe he needs to improve this. We are not perfect, it’s part of the game.”
Chelsea led 1-0 until the 62nd minute in Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field through Pedro Neto’s early strike, before a chaotic six minute-spell in the second half completely turned the game on its head.
Substitute Bruno Henrique tapped in an equaliser before turning provider for Danilo three minutes later, while momentum shifted yet further when Jackson was sent off.
The Senegal international replaced Delap as Maresca hunted another goal, but instead received a straight red card for stamping on Ayrton Lucas’ foot and shin.
Chelsea never looked likely to overturn the deficit after that and Flamengo’s 20-year-old Wallace Yan, a late substitute, cemented a brilliant victory for Filipe Luis’ side with his first goal for the side, inside the final ten minutes.
“Completely changed the game,” Maresca said of that six-minute spell. “Unfortunately we conceded two goals in a short moment, then the red card, then it’s very complicated to come back in the game. We tried.”
Jackson has lost his cool in games before, notably receiving a straight red against Newcastle just last month as Chelsea fought for Champions League places. The Blues endured 55 minutes with a man down in that game and lost 2-0.
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