2-0: Happy debut for Sampaoli at Flamengo

He flamencowith a double from the scorer Pedrobeat 2-0 at nublense Chilean at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro in the match in which the Argentine Jorge Sampaoli made his debut as coach of the Brazilian team, and provisionally reached the leaders of Group A of the Libertadores Cup.

The current champion of the Libertadores added his first three points in the continental tournament, after having lost 1-2 in his visit to the Ecuadorian Aucas in the debut, and left Ñublense sunk in last place without points.

Argentine Racing (+2), Flamengo (+1) and Aucas (+1), in that order by goal difference, now share first place in the group, but the new leader of the key will be known on Thursday, when the Argentine team will receive the Ecuadorian to complete the second day.

The victory confirmed the commitment of the Flamengo leaders to Sampaoli, who officially took over on Monday as coach of the Brazilian team after the dismissal of the Portuguese Vítor Pereira.

The Portuguese was removed from command after only four months in charge after Flamengo was eliminated in the Club World Cup, lost the South American and Brazilian Cup Winners’ Cups and was thrashed 4-1 by Fluminense in the final of the Carioca Championship.

For the team led by Jaime García, on the other hand, the defeat not only left them in last place in the standings and added a new setback, since they have only achieved four victories in their last thirteen games.

Winning offensive bet

Sampaoli surprised in his first game as coach of the most popular club in Brazil by fielding a totally offensive team, with only three players in defense and a trio of forwards made up of Pedro, Gabriel Barbosa ‘Gabigol’ and Marinho, who was one of his trusted players when the also Brazilian Santos commanded.

The Argentine responded to the requests of the fans of the Rio de Janeiro team who always protested because the coach’s predecessors always hesitated to line up Gabigol and Pedro at the same time -respectively goalscorers for the Libertadores in 2021 and 2022-, since the two attackers have characteristics similar.

Flamengo dominated from the first minute in front of the 48,895 fans who attended the Maracaná, with their three attackers taking over from the shots, and forced Ñublense to limit themselves to defending.

Sampaoli’s gamble proved successful as Flamengo opened the scoring in the 14th minute after Pedro got ahead of his markers and put a ball into Pérez’s goal from Marinho’s free kick from the right.

With the confidence of the first goal, the locals further increased the pressure and the dangerous plays against a Ñublense that opted for counterattacks, mainly led by Zalazar, who rarely reached the goal defended by Santos with danger.

Flamengo’s insistence paid off in the 36th minute, when again Pedro invaded the Chilean area, again after a pass from Marinho, got rid of one of his markers and calmly beat Pérez, to increase the lead to 2-0 and his number of goals this year to 17 in 18 games.

Flamengo maintained their dominance in the second half, especially with the plays created by Marinho on the right wing and by Ayrton Lucas on the left, always looking for Pedro and Gabigol inside the area, or the Chilean Arturo Vidal a little further back.

In an attempt to react, García sent the attackers Aránguiz, Valdés, Provoste and Oyarzo onto the field, but Ñublense continued without dangerously approaching the goal of the locals.

Sampaoli, on the other hand, took advantage of the wide dominance to afford himself the luxury of making some changes that would allow him to get to know Flamengo’s players better, bringing on those less taken advantage of by Pereira, such as the attacker Everton ‘Cebolinha’, the midfielder Everton Ribeiro and the Wesley side.

The modifications further improved the performance of the Libertadores champion, who fully assumed control of the match and was about to expand with luxurious plays by Cebolinha.

Five minutes from the end Everton Ribeiro scored what would be Flamengo’s third goal after a play with Pedro and Gabigol, but the goal was annulled, after a VAR review, due to a foul on Provoste at the start of the play .

read also