Argentine Germán Cano scored a hat trick for Fluminense
Ceará and Atlético Goianiense play relegation
Internacional, Fluminense and Corinthians, with victories this Saturday in their commitments for the penultimate day of the Brazilian Championship, kept up their dispute for second place in the classification of the League, whose title Palmeiras already achieved.
In a day in which some places in the Libertadores and Sudamericana are still at stake, as well as relegation, the highlight was Fluminense’s 3-1 win over Sao Paulowith three goals from Argentine Germán Cano, who isolated himself at the top of the scorers’ table with 24 goals.
The Rio de Janeiro team started at a disadvantage after a goal by Luciano for Sao Paulo in the first half, buto Cano reacted in the second and in just thirteen minutes he scored his three goals, one with his left leg, another with his right and the last with his head.
The Argentine already guaranteed the foreign title with the highest number of annotations in a single edition of the League in Brazil.
Fluminense provisionally occupied second place in the standings but Inter, who played two hours later, also got a home win, 2-0 over Athletico Paranaensewhich kept him as Palmeiras’ immediate escort with 67 points, ten points behind the leader.
And Corinthians, which is still fourth in the standings, also reaped a victory this Saturday, by 1-0 over Cearáwhich allowed him to add 64 points, the same as Fluminense, which is third for having the highest number of victories and the best balance of goals.
The fourth team that remains in contention for second place in the standings is Flamengo, brand new champion of the Copa Libertadores and that on Sunday he visits Coritiba in his commitment for the thirty-sixth day.
the flamingo has 61 points and a victory could leave him in third place with 64 units, just three behind Inter, with two days remaining in the League.
The fight for second place in the classification is due to the millionaire cash prize offered for the position (42.8 million reais or 8.6 million dollars), since the four clubs (Inter, Fluminense, Corinthians and Flamengo) already have their places in the Libertadores guaranteedas well as the Palmeiras.
The last direct quota left for the Libertadores is provisionally Athletico Paranaense, with 54 points, but it runs the risk of being evicted from the sixth position in the classification by América (52), Atlético Mineiro (52) or São Paulo (51).
The regulation guarantees direct places in the Libertadores to the top four in the league table, but as Flamengo was crowned champion of the continental tournament and the Copa do Brasilwhich also offer tickets, the benefit is extended to the first six.
In the dispute to avoid the last four places in the classification, Avaí only got a 1-1 draw during his visit to Santos today, for which he was sunk in penultimate place, no longer mathematically likely to remain in the first division, which meant the first relegation in the career of the famous Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero.
The Avaí came together against Juventude, last in the standings and whose relegation to the second division was already confirmed since last week.
Ceará, who fell on their visit to Corinthians, and Atlético Goianiense are the other two clubs provisionally threatened with loss of category but they still have mathematical chances of saving themselves in the two days remaining for the end.
