Flying Flamengo players
CR Flamengo staged a dramatic second-half turnaround to condemn Chelsea to a 3-1 defeat on matchday two of the FIFA Club World Cup, moving the Brazilian side three points clear of the second-placed Blues at the top of Group D.
After providing an assist on his Chelsea debut, Liam Delap was presented with an early chance to open his account in his first start for the club. The former Ipswich Town striker collected Enzo Fernandez’s through ball before seeing his fierce strike pushed away by Agustín Rossi at the near post. As it turned out, Chelsea did not have to wait too long for Pedro Neto to open the scoring in Philadelphia. The ball bounced between him and two Flamengo defenders on the halfway line, before kindly breaking for the Portuguese winger to race away and calmly slot past Rossi, marking his second goal of the tournament.
Flamengo enjoyed large swathes of possession in response to the Blues’ opener, and they went agonisingly close to converting their pressure into an equaliser when Gerson saw his header cleared off the line by Levi Colwill in the closing stages of the first period.
Trailing by one goal at the break, Filipe Luís determined charges made a purposeful start to the second period at Lincoln Financial Field. Gonzalo Plata poked just wide from Gerson’s deflected shot, before the Ecuador international forced Robert Sánchez to tip over from his rising strike. Plata failed to find a way past the Chelsea goalkeeper, but he was able to provide the crucial header across goal for Bruno Henrique to tap home from close range, sparking wild scenes of jubilation among the Flamengo supporters. With momentum in their favour, the Brazilian giants wasted little time in hitting the front through experienced defender Danilo. The former Juventus man applied the finishing touches after Henrique towered high to knock the ball down from a deep corner.
After conceding two goals in three minutes, Chelsea’s miserable period was dramatically compounded when substitute Nicolas Jackson was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle on left-back Ayrton Lucas. Any doubt about the final result was quashed when Wallace Yan netted a late third to seal a sixth consecutive win for Flamengo and end the Blues’ four-game winning run.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bruno Henrique (CR Flamengo)
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