Work to do: Enzo Maresca was frustrated after 10-man Chelsea were beaten by Flamengo at the Club World Cup
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Flamengo trolled Chelsea on social media after a feisty clash between the sides at the Club World Cup.
The Brazilian giants pulled off an impressive comeback win in the eventful Group D contest in Philadelphia on Friday night, with Blues striker Nicolas Jackson apologising after being sent off for the second time in his last three appearances across all competitions.
Chelsea trailed 2-1 at the time at Lincoln Financial Field after Pedro Neto’s early opener - his second of the tournament so far - had been cancelled out with two goals in three minutes from substitute Bruno Henrique and Danilo, before Jackson - on his 24th birthday - was dismissed just four minutes after coming off the bench to replace Liam Delap for a bad challenge on Ayrton Lucas.
Wallace Yan then netted late on to wrap up victory for a Flamengo side featuring former Chelsea midfielder Jorginho, who became the first team to guarantee their place in the last 16 of the inaugural expanded 32-team summer Club World Cup in the United States.
The Blues now need a result against Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis - who beat LAFC 1-0 in Nashville later on Friday night - in Philadelphia on Tuesday to reach the knockout stages, although tournament tiebreakers mean they are likely to now face the winners of Group C if they advance to the last 16, which could well be Bayern Munich.
Flamengo were understandably delighted with their win over Chelsea having already beaten ES Tunis 2-0 last week, and could not resist a cheeky little dig at the Blues’ expense on social media afterwards.
“Easy win against London Blue,” they wrote on their official English account on X, formerly Twitter.
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The ‘London Blue’ and badge used in the tweet is a reference to Konami’s football video game series Pro Evolution Soccer, who did not previously have the relevant licensing agreements for real club names and referred to Chelsea as “West London Blue” for a spell, also simply “London FC”.