Union achieved a historic draw, goalless, in the Maracana against Fluminense, and thus became leader of group H of the Copa Sudamericana, in a match whose hero was Uruguayan goalkeeper Santiago Mele who saved a penalty from veteran Fred in the sixth minute of injury time in the second half.
With this tie 0-0, the team led by Gustavo Munúa adds five points and is a leader, while Junior from Barranquilla reaches 4 units, and this Thursday they will visit the Oil Oriente in Bolivia.
Fluminense stood up with a line of three and arranged for his full-backs Marlon and Caio Paulista to go on the attack quickly to try to win the game over the Union midfielders and defense.
In the front of the cariocas stood out the Argentine Germán Cano, the Colombian Arias and the former Sevilla Ganso to make Mele work.
For his part, Munúa opted for Polenta’s experience in the Cup and wanted Zenón to feed Luna Diale and the recovered Alvez, one of the figures of the tatengues.
The 2022 version of Fluminense is very weak, almost mediocre, to the point that Unión was able to match it, keeping its players away from Mele. And at 27, the tatengues had a very fast counterattack that led to Alvez making a long run to face only Fabio, but he threw it out in a golden opportunity in a Maracana, against a great from Brazil.
That was the clearest action of the entire first half, since Union defenders and midfielders led by the courageous Polenta were able to neutralize Fluminense.
In the second half, the Fluminense coach ordered the entry of the experienced Fred and Luiz Henrique to finally get Mele to work, who began to be the protagonist, after a spectator role in the first half.
Throughout 92 minutes, Munúa and his team built a very good performance that could have resulted in taking the three points or at least one for Santa Fe, but everything could have collapsed when Daniel Juárez touched the ball with his hand against a cross from the local.
Uruguayan Esteban Ostojich sanctioned a penalty and veteran striker Fred was in charge of shooting and transforming Mele into a hero, as he flew to his right and cleared it for the corner.
The people of Santa Fe celebrated excitedly, since they were able to finish their task, taking a very good prize to the city of Santa Fe.
