In an exciting match played at the Maracanã stadium, Fluminense defeated Flamengo 2-1 to secure the title of the Taça Guanabara (first round) of the Campeonato Carioca. In addition, Tricolor das Laranjeiras ended the initial phase of the competition in first place, with 25 points, which guarantees advantages in the knockout stage.
VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNCE THE FLUMINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNSEEEEEE! NORMAAAAAAL! GERMAN CANO DRAWS, PIRANI TURNS AND FLUMINENSE WINS THE GUANABARA CUP! VAAAAAAAAAMOS, TRICOLOR! pic.twitter.com/wd7gwBnSJz
— Fluminense FC (@FluminenseFC) March 9, 2023
Rubro-Negro was in second place, with 23 points, but could be surpassed by Vasco, who has 20 points and will play against Bangu next Thursday (9) in São Januário.
With a very different lineup than usual, Flamengo entered the pitch amidst much distrust. However, the bet of coach Vítor Pereira, to close behind and bet on counterattack moves to attack Fluminense, proved to be right in the initial stage.
In the 18th minute Everton Cebolinha dominated on the left end and cut to the middle, getting rid of Samuel Xavier and Nino’s mark before kicking with category to overcome goalkeeper Fábio and score a beautiful goal.
Rubro-Negro continued to improve in the match and even expanded in the 33rd minute with Gabriel Barbosa, but the move ended up canceled by the judge, with the help of VAR (video referee), because of a lack of Matheus França in a ball dispute with André .
On the way back from the break, coach Fernando Diniz promoted two changes with the intention of increasing his team’s dominance in the central area of the field, with Lima and Gabriel Pirani replacing Keno and David Braz.
And the changes took effect just seven minutes into the final stage. The midfielder Martinelli found Gabriel Pirani, who played for Arias, who served the Argentine scorer Gérman Cano, who did not forgive.
From then on, opportunities appeared side by side, but the Laranjeiras team was more efficient and scored the winning goal in the 39th minute. Arias lifted the ball towards the area, Cano shot aimlessly and Gabriel Pirani finished with a pout to overcome goalkeeper Matheus Cunha.
From then on, Tricolor held back until the final whistle to release the group of champions.
Simply. pic.twitter.com/Ua9VXumdni
— Fluminense FC (@FluminenseFC) March 9, 2023
Botafogo disqualified
Those who had a night to forget were Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Portuguesa and ended up outside the Carioca knockout stage after finishing the first round in 5th place, with 19 points. Lusa’s winning goal came from Anderson Rosa’s feet.
Round Round in the semifinals
The fourth semifinalist in Carioca is Volta Redonda, who tied 3-3 with Boavista this Wednesday and reached 20 points in third place.
