Flamengo from Brazil was very close to the final of the Copa Libertadores by crushing Vélez Sarsfield 4-0, this Wednesday in the first leg of the semifinals played at the José Amalfitani stadium in Buenos Aires.
Pedro (31′, 60′ and 83′), the great figure of the night with a ‘hat-trick’, and Everton Ribeiro (45+1′) scored the goals for the comfortable victory of the Rio de Janeiro team, which took an advantage decisive in the face of the revenge that will be played next Wednesday at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
The winner will be measured in the grand final on October 29 in Guayaquil with the winner of the Brazilian series between Palmeiras and Athletico Paranaense, who won 1-0 in the first leg.
– Peter’s party –
From the first minutes it was Flamengo that was the most ambitious, determined to set foot on Velez terrain, with Gabigol ready to battle head-on with the central defenders, while the local team rehearsed a couple of incursions with balls, looking for the backs of the sides of the visit.
Flamengo also gained ground because they took control of the middle, where Garayalde and Cáseres could not gain a foothold, and when Vélez had the ball, the best thing he achieved was a nice mid-distance shot from Lucas Janson that Santos blocked with great effort.
But ‘Fla’ searched patiently, and the goal was decided shortly after half an hour, when Léo Pereira sent a poisonous center from the right, which fell like a bomb in the heart of the area, where Pedro entered to touch the goal to the surprise of Jara, De los Santos and the goalkeeper.
Far from retreating, the cast of Rio went in search of another opportunity, which came in an overflow by Pedro, who sent the center back, and Filipe Luis came from the bottom to push it, but Hoyos managed to clear it from the right corner.
With more resources, it was clear that the visitors could score at any time, and they struck just before the end of the first half, in a magnificent team play, with precise touches to dislodge the defense, until De Arrascaeta saw Gabigol on the right , who assisted Everton Ribeiro first through the center, who touched cross to beat Hoyos again.
– Everything solved –
Every time he hinted at a recovery, Vélez met the stilettos of the visiting team, who began to sentence the duel with the third goal, in a play that Filipe Luis started, and culminated with another Gabigol assist for Pedro’s entry from the right , which he defined with quality before the goalkeeper’s desperate exit.
There was half an hour left to play, but the first semi-final already had an owner, with a clearly superior Flamengo, just as it appeared in the previous one, with a difference in hierarchy that was exposed from start to finish.
The visitor could even have won by historical figures, but Gabigol, who was one of the figures as an assistant, was not fine when it came to defining and missed two very clear chances, a one-on-one against Hoyos after a frontal ball, and then he finished deflected to the empty goal, after Pedro gave him a beautiful pass.
The finishing touch to the party was put by Pedro, a nightmare for all of Vélez, who scored the fourth after a pass from Vidal who was looking for Gabigol, deflected into a defender and the young gunner was served to beat Hoyos with a cross touch.
Relentless, the ‘Fla’ left the series almost sealed, since Vélez is forced to a colossal feat in the Maracana, where the black rubro will seek to prolong the party, already with more than half a ticket to the final in his pocket, determined to collect revenge for the final lost last year and lift the Libertadores for the third time.
