flamencocurrent Copa Libertadores champions, won this Sunday’s 3-1 match Vasco da Gama in the second leg of the semifinals of Carioca Championship and guarantee their classification in the final of the Brazilian regional tournament, where they will face each other fluminense.
The team led by coach Vítor Pereira won with two goals from Pedro, the second from a penalty with ten minutes left in the game, and one from Ayrton Lucas in the substitute minutes, while the Argentine defender Manuel Vicente Capasso reduced the discount for Vasco da Spectrum.
The team made up of Uruguayan World Cup players Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Guillermo Varela and Chileans Arturo Vidal and Erick Pulgar already defeated Vasco 3-2 in the first leg, also on Monday at the Maracana, where they advanced to the final with two wins.
In the decision of the second most important tournament in the region in Brazil, which will have round-trip matches on April 2 and 9, Flamengo and Fluminense will once again bring out the famous classic Fla-Flu, which decided many times champion from Rio de Janeiro.
Fluminense, defending the Rio de Janeiro title won last year, advanced to the final after beating Volta Redonda 7-0 on Saturday, with four goals from Argentine Germán Ezequiel Cano.
The derby between Flamengo and Vasco da Gama was even in the first half, with options for both sides. But Flamengo, who last year won the Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, were able to open the scoring in the 15th minute of the first half as a shot from Pedro tricked goalkeeper Léo Jardim as it deflected a touch from defender Jair.
From that moment, Vasco launched the attack and took advantage of several flaws in Flamengo’s defense to get dangerously close to the Santos goal. In one of the advances, Capasso took advantage of a corner kick to equalize the score and keep his balance until the end of the first half.
Gabigol and De Arrascaeta, replaced
In the second half, the Basques were more aggressive in attack, forcing Pereira to replace striker Gabriel Barbosa ‘Gabigol’ and D’Arrascaeta, who appeared to have a recurrence of an old injury, which led to boos of the coach for his own amusement.
The balance was maintained until the 36th minute when Pedro put Flamengo ahead with a perfect penalty where the referee punished a violent play by Capasso.
Flamengo put the final numbers in the 46th minute of the second half after Ayrton Lucas, after a free kick taken by Pedro, got past Capasso on the left and sent a ball past goalkeeper Léo Jardim.
Qualifying for the final eases the situation for Pereira, who has been questioned over this year’s exclusion from the Club World Cup, the South American Cup Winners’ Cup and the Brazilian Super Cup, while leaving Vasco da Gama on the ropes, who now week it was also eliminated from the Copa do Brasil.
Another finalist for Carioca is Fluminense, who on Saturday, at Maracanã, beat Volta Redonda 7-0 with four goals from Argentine nationalized Colombian Germán Ezequiel Cano and scores from Samuel Xavier, Alexsander and Martinelli .
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
