He Flamengo They were defeated 2-1 this Wednesday in the Carioca classic against Fluminense and saw its lead at the top of the Brazilian Championship decrease by one point, after the goalless draw between Palmeiras and Vitória. Flamengo and Palmeiras, now separated by just two points, maintain an intense fight for the League title and, in addition, in nine days they will meet in the final of the Copa Libertadores, at the Monumental in Lima.
Today it was evident that both teams are reserving energy for that grand final. At the Maracaná stadium, ‘Fla’ was surprised by a Fluminense team, led by Argentine Luis Zubeldía, who sealed the match in a period of eight minutes in the first half. The Argentine midfielder Lucho Acosta scored the first in the 25th minute and the Colombian winger Kevin Serna took advantage of a blunder by the red and black goalkeeper Agustín Rossi to widen the gap in the 33rd minute.
Bruno Hernique (Flamengo) disputes a ball during the match against Fluminense
Coach Filipe Luís sought his team’s reaction by bringing in Everton Cebolinha, Jorginho and the Ecuadorian Gonzalo Plata. The former Chelsea and Arsenal player pulled one back from a penalty in the 85th minute, but it was too late for a comeback. In this way, Flamengo missed a golden opportunity to increase its lead on this 34th matchday, because when it faced the classic against ‘Flu’ it already knew that Palmeiras had drawn goalless at home against Vitória.
Thiago Couto, decisive between the sticks
In an early match on matchday 37, the São Paulo team collided with an extraordinary Thiago Couto under the goal of the visiting team, which is fighting to get out of the relegation zone to the second division. The Vitória goalkeeper performed various miracles at the Allianz Parque in São Paulo against the shots of the Argentine Aníbal Moreno, the Paraguayan Gustavo Gómez and the Brazilian Felipe Anderson.
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Vitor Roque, fresh from training with the Brazilian team, took to the pitch at half-time, but couldn’t find the goal. However, what seemed to be a bad result turned into a valuable point after Flamengo’s setback, which is left with 71 points, two more than Palmeiras, with just four games left in the tournament.
