Brasileirão: Defender scores v Fluminense, nears Corinthians lead | OneFootball

Corinthians hosted Fluminense on Sunday afternoon (20) at Neo Química Arena in a match valid for the 28th round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship, and lost 3-1. The new negative result left Timão only three points above the relegation zone, brought their sixth straight defeat in the tournament and, consequently, kept them in 14th place with 32 points, with just eight wins, eight draws and 11 losses — 29 goals scored and 32 conceded.

Corinthians’ only goal in the match was scored by center-back Gustavo Henrique, who reached his seventh goal of the year and moved closer to striker Yuri Alberto in the race to be Alvinegro’s top scorer this season. The center-forward, currently recovering from a thigh muscle injury and out since the end of July, has scored eight times this year. The defender’s last goal for Timão had come in the 2-1 loss to Cruzeiro on August 16, in Itaquera, in the 23rd round of the Brasileirão.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The Corinthians defender scored 10 minutes into the second half. After Rodrigo Garro played Matheus Bidu through on the left, the No. 21 cut it back into the box and forward Gui Negão headed it straight at goalkeeper Fábio, who parried it out for a corner! After the set piece, Memphis Depay hit a volley inside the six-yard box and, on the rebound, Gustavo Henrique scored for Timão. Check out the team’s top scorers ranking at the end of this article.

Signed at the start of 2024 after leaving Fenerbahçe of Turkey, the experienced center-back is one of the pillars of Corinthians’ system, as well as an undisputed starter, having played a key role in the historic Brasileirão surge two years ago (from the relegation zone to the Libertadores qualifiers) and starting in the title wins in the Campeonato Paulista (2025), Copa do Brasil (2025) and Supercopa do Brasil (2026), against Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, respectively.

In total, he has made 119 appearances in a Corinthians shirt (115 as a starter), with 54 wins, 25 draws and 40 losses — a 52.4% success rate. In addition, he has scored 13 goals and provided five assists. The goal against the Rio side made the No. 13 the 10th highest-scoring center-back in Alvinegro history, behind only Grané (49), Chicão (42), Goiano (22), Célio Silva (19), Gil (19), Olavo (18), Henrique (17), Balbuena (15) and Fábio Luciano (15).

In poor form this season, Corinthians will now have a break in their schedule due to the FIFA international window and will return to action only in the first week of October. On Wednesday the 7th, at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), Alvinegro will visit Internacional at Beira-Rio Stadium for the 29th round of the Brazilian Championship — the only competition Timão still has left this year.

Corinthians top scorers in 2026:

1) Yuri Alberto – eight goals 2) Gustavo Henrique* – seven goals3) André Luiz – five goals 4) Breno Bidon – four goals5) Kaio César, Matheus Bidu, Raniele and Rodrigo Garro – three goals each 6) Gui Negão, Pedro Raul, Zakaria Labyad, Dieguinho, Jesse Lingard, Kayke and Gabriel Paulista – two goals each7) Fabrizio Angileri, Matheus Pereira, Matheuzinho, Memphis Depay, João Pedro Tchoca, Vitinho and André Ramalho – one goal each

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.