Fluminense draws with Juventude in the Brasileirão and leaves group 6
Gauchos take the lead nine minutes into the second half, but there’s no time to celebrate, as Rio de Janeiro seeks a result in the 12th minute
Summary
In a game without any major highlights, but with a twist at the end, Juventude and Fluminense drew 1-1 on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Alfredo Jaconi, in the 9th round of the Brazilian Championship. The goals only came in the second half. Batalla opened the scoring for the Gauchos in the ninth minute – with help from Freytes –, and Hércules got the result for the Rio de Janeiro team with a good infiltration play in the area soon after, in the 12th minute.
How it looks
Juventude remains in the relegation zone. They have one point, reaching eight points and remaining in 18th place. Fluminense have reached 14 points and dropped two places to seventh, now outside the qualifying group for the Conmebol Libertadores.
Upcoming games
Juventude will have more than a week to work with coach Cláudio Tencati, the afternoon’s debutant. They will return to the field only on Monday, the 26th, at 8 pm, against Bragantino at the Cícero de Souza Marques Stadium.
Flu will have the derby against Vasco in the 10th round of the Brasileirão, at 6:30 pm on Saturday. However, it will define its place in the Copa do Brasil on Wednesday, at 7:30 pm, in Brasília. It will face Aparecidense at Mané Garrincha with the advantage of having won the first leg 1-0 in Rio.
First half
The first half at Alfredo Jaconi was dominated by the visitors. Even away from home, Fluminense created the best opportunities. At 16 minutes, Everaldo had the ball in the half-moon, turned, shot a cross that Gustavo deflected for a corner. In the next play, after a rehearsed corner kick, Everaldo headed the ball towards the middle and Martinelli finished off the crossbar. In the final stretch, Serna crossed perfectly and Everaldo, alone, headed the ball wide of the goal. Ju only threatened due to a mistake by the Rio team. After a mistake by Fábio, Alan Ruschel recovered the ball and passed it to Taliari. The forward tried to finish, but his shot was blocked by Thiago Silva.
Second half
The score of the match was decided in a matter of three minutes. At nine minutes, after Flu’s defense cleared a corner kick, Batalla picked up the rebound and kicked hard. The ball deflected off Freytes and fooled Fábio: 1-0 Ju. At 12 minutes, Hércules got past his opponents, exchanged passes with Everaldo, Gustavo partially defended, but the midfielder was ready to finish first on the rebound and tie the game. Two minutes later, Hércules almost turned the game around again with a beautiful shot from outside the area. At 17 minutes, Arias was stopped by Gustavo. At 31 minutes, it was Giovanny’s turn to finish with a cross and almost hit Fábio’s corner. At 37 minutes, the play that could have changed the final stretch of the match. Gabriel Taliari took advantage of Flu’s mistake and advanced freely into the area. Before entering the area, he was brought down by Samuel Xavier, who received a red card. However, referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio was called to the VAR and noticed that Taliari had touched his arm during the dispute with Thiago Silva at the beginning of the play. In injury time, both teams had a chance to win. Juventude, with Nenê, after a good play on the right. But the shot went wide. Then, Paulo Baya unleashed a bomb with his left foot, which Gustavo palmed away for a corner.
