The Brazilian side carried the greater threat in the opening 45 minutes, but we went into the interval ahead after Pedro Neto's early breakaway strike.

Yet in the second period, Flamengo, the current leaders of the Brazilian top flight, took control. They levelled through Bruno Henrique on 62 minutes and were ahead minutes later when Danilo turned home from close range via a corner.

Jackson was then dismissed for a challenge on Ayrton Lucas and Flamengo completed their victory when Wallace Yan converted with seven minutes to play.

A full debut

Maresca made four changes to his starting XI, with Trevoh Chalobah, Enzo Fernandez, Malo Gusto and full debutant Liam Delap coming into the side in place of Tosin Adarabioyo, Romeo Lavia, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson.

Flamengo, who have started their domestic season strongly, were expected to press high and intensely in the opening exchanges. That proved the case and resulted in two shooting opportunities: the first saw Giorgian de Arrascaeta fire over, the second from Ayrton Lucas worked Robert Sanchez.

Yet on the first occasion we picked a way through the wave of red and black, a chance was fashioned. The move was started by Moises Caicedo, who found Enzo Fernandez unmarked in midfield. The Argentine quickly set Delap away and the striker forced Agustin Rossi into a fine reaction stop.

Deadlock broken

Flamengo didn't relent in their approach and earned a free-kick with just over ten minutes on the clock. It was delivered into the Chelsea penalty area and cleared, and Neto set off in pursuit. Our opening goal followed as a result.

Under pressure from the Blues winger, Wesley Franca attempted to play a pass to Leo Pereira. The ball struck Neto, then Pereira, rebounded to Franca, whose second attempted pass also hit the Chelsea winger and rebounded into the Flamengo half.

Neto had a clear run on goal as a result and, after a 40-yard dash, steadied himself to guide his shot beyond Rossi. We had the lead.

The goal was against the run of play, which remained the case for much of the half. Flamengo carried the greater threat and Marc Cucurella did well to deflect a low free-kick from Luiz Araujo behind.

Aside from a shot from Gusto that was saved – at the second attempt – by Rossi, the majority of the action took place in our half. And Flamengo came inches away from levelling via a free-kick that was delivered deep and met by Brazilian international Gerson.

His volley back across goal took a slight touch off Caicedo and had beaten Sanchez, but Levi Colwill had anticipated the danger excellently and headed the ball away from underneath his own crossbar.

Flamengo continues to push and Sanchez had to deny both Leo Pereira and Franca in stoppage time. Yet at the half-time interval, the Blues were ahead.

Ahead at the break

Maresca opted against any alterations, as the Blues continued to operate in a 4-2-2-2 system that saw James and Caicedo in deeper midfield roles, Palmer and Fernandez as two tens, and Delap and Pedro Neto playing as split strikers.

Flamengo's clearest chance of the contest arrived shortly after the restart. A long punt forward from Rossi created a mix-up between James and Chalobah, and Gerson collected the ball, broke into the Chelsea box, and attempted to guide a shot into the far corner.

James scrambled back to block the effort, but the rebound bounced toward Gonzalo Plata. Fortunately for the Blues, he couldn't turn the ball home from an acute angle.

Yet the pressure was building and, aside from a long Sanchez pass that Leo Pereira almost turned into his own net under pressure from Delap, the Blues struggled to quell it.

And, just after the hour, Flamengo levelled as Plata, who had moments forced Sanchez into a fine reflex stop, was found at the back post and his header across goal was turned home by Bruno Henrique.

Maresca immediately turned to his bench, as Romeo Lavia was introduced for James and Jackson came on for Delap. But the Brazilians were buoyed by the goal and from their next attack, earned a corner. It was delivered deep, headed back across our goal, and Danilo was on hand to turn the ball home.

It then went from bad to worse for the Blues as, less than 90 seconds after the restart, Jackson caught Flamengo defender Ayrton Lucas on the shin and was instantly shown a red card by referee Ivan Arcides Barton Cisneros.

Flamengo now had full control of the contest and, in an attempt to disrupt that, Maresca shuffled his pack as Noni Madueke and Marc Guiu replaced Fernandez and Palmer.

However, before they had time to settle, Flamengo grabbed a third to kill off the contest. There was a slight element of fortune to the goal as a shot fell into the path of Wallace Yan, and he was able to finish from close range to kill off any hope the Blues had of salvaging a result.

What it means...

After our opening two matches, the Blues are second in Group D.

What comes next...

Our final group game takes place next Tuesday, as we take on ES Tunis at Lincoln Financial Field.

The teams

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; James (c) (Lavia 64), Caicedo; Enzo (Madueke 82), Palmer (Guiu 82); Pedro Neto, Delap (Jackson 64)
Chelsea substitutes: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Tosin, Badiashile, Sarr, Anselmino, Essugo, Andrey Santos, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Nkunku
Goalscorers: Pedro Neto 13
Booked: Caicedo 11, Pedro Neto 23, Delap 45+2
Sent off: Jackson 68

Flamengo: Rossi; Wesley Franca (Varela 82), Danilo, Leo Pereira, Ayrton Lucas; Erick Pulgar, Jorginho; Gerson (Wallace Yan 82), de Arrascaeta (Bruno Henrique 56), Luiz Araujo (Michael 90+2); Plata (Pedro 90+2)
Flamengo substitutes: Matheus Cunha, Leo Ortiz, Vina, Sandro, Victor Joao, Matheus Goncalves, Allan, Evertton Araujo, Cebolinha, Juninho, Pinto
Goalscorers: Bruno Henrique 62, Danilo 65, Wallace Yan 83
Booked: Gerson 74, Erick Pulgar 82, Plata 90+2

Attendance: 54,019