He fluminense this Wednesday he comfortably won the Sporting Cristal by 1-3 with goals from Argentine Germán Cano on two occasions and from Brazilian Vitor Mendes, for the first day of group D of Libertadores Cup played at the National Stadium in Lima.
In the first half, Fluminense jumped onto the Nacional pitch with a goal to score in the first minutes of the game and overwhelmed the hosts, seeing the first shots on goal by Renato Solís, which he saved well.
However, with Fernando Diniz’s students all on the attack, a Cristal counterattack was able to open the scoring after 17 minutes of play, thanks to a cross shot from Peruvian winger Joao Grimaldo, after a pass by Jesus Castillo.
With the score, Cristal, led by Brazilian Tiago Nunes, changed the dynamics of the game and began to pressure the visitors, who dictated their game with the experienced Marcelo and Felipe Melo. But the equalizer came after 35 minutes with a shot from Argentine striker Germán Cano, who latched onto the rebound of the ball which was saved by Solís, after Nino tried to head in a corner.
After the break, Fluminense came back determined to add and block the sky-blue team’s attempts to reach Fabio’s goal. So Cano scored Fluminense’s second in the 59th minute, capping off a play started by Marcelo, who passed to Keno who flicked the ball back to his star striker.
Cristal tried to counterattack with Yosimar Yotún and the Ecuadorian Washington Corozo, but was quickly blocked by the Fluminense defense, which did not let them finish their game. On one of those breaks, Corozo sent a cross to Irven Avila, but it didn’t arrive and the shot missed the Brazilian goal. However, Fluminense scored the third with a header from Vítor Mendes in the 81st minute, following a corner kick.
In the final minutes the Lima crowd experienced nervousness to avoid a win and Solís left his goal to block the shots. At that moment, Yotún was sent off the field, due to the accumulation of cards, at the end of the match, after the foul was reviewed by VAR.
The match between Sporting Cristal and Fluminense closed the first day of Group D of the Libertadores, opened on Tuesday by The Strongest and River Plate, in La Paz, with a 3-1 victory for the Bolivians.
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.
