Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca refused to be drawn on Nicolas Jackson’s red card | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca had “nothing to say” about Nicolas Jackson’s red card just four minutes after arriving as a substitute in a second-half collapse which saw them lose 3-1 to Flamengo at the Club World Cup.

Jackson, who was sent off against Newcastle in their third-last Premier League match, raked his studs down the shin of Lucas Ayrton and was immediately dismissed – after which Wallace Yan scored the Brazil side’s third.

When Maresca was asked about Jackson’s challenge and his recent indiscipline he told DAZN: “It was a red card, so nothing to say.”

However, Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella admitted it was something the 24-year-old had to improve.

“He is young player, he has a lot of quality, he maybe needs to improve this a little bit. We are here to improve, we are not perfect so it is part of the game,” he said.

Maresca put the damaging defeat down to “trying something new” for next season.

The Blues were leading through Pedro Neto’s 13th-minute strike but after second-half goals from Bruno Henrique and Danilo in quick succession Jackson saw red.

“It completely changed the game. Unfortunately we conceded two goals in a short moment and then the red card and then I think it is complicated to get back into the game,” the Chelsea boss added.

“We tried – but congratulations to them. They deserved to win.

“We tried to do something different in the game, for next season and for the future.”