𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson has apologised for his red card in the 3-1 Club World Cup loss to Flamengo.

The 24-year-old was sent off for raking his studs down the shin of Lucas Ayrton just four minutes after coming on as Enzo Maresca’s side collapsed in the second half.

“I want to say sorry. To the club, the staff, my team-mates, and all the fans watching, I let you down,” said Jackson, who was sent off against Newcastle in their third-last Premier League match.

“Another red card… And honestly, I’m so angry at myself. I work hard every day to help the team not to put us in this kind of situation.

“I still don’t fully understand how it happened. But one thing is clear: it wasn’t intentional. Just a moment in football that went the wrong way.

“No excuses. I take full responsibility. I’ll reflect, I’ll grow, and I’ll come back stronger for the badge and for everyone who believes in me.

“Sorry. Sorry, Sorry.”

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.

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 and Wallace Yan scored the Brazil side’s third.

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

“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.”