Lucas Paquetá plays down award after equaliser in Flamengo’s Libertadores draw at Cruzeiro | OneFootball

Lucas Paquetá played down his player-of-the-match award after coming off the bench to equalise in Flamengo’s 1-1 draw at Cruzeiro in the first leg of the Libertadores round of 16. According to Coluna Do Fla, he was named the standout after levelling the tie at the Mineirão.

Leonardo Jardim initially left the midfielder among the substitutes. Introduced after the interval, he swiftly became decisive.

Soon after his arrival, Flamengo won a free-kick. Ayrton Lucas swung the ball into the area, Léo Ortiz’s header struck the post and Paquetá, wearing number 20, guided the rebound into the top corner.

Seen leaving the pitch with the trophy alongside José Boto, he joked that it was almost embarrassing, adding that there are matches when he plays well and does not receive the award.

Paquetá had only returned last Sunday after a muscular injury sustained with Brazil at the World Cup, featuring for a few minutes in the win over Vitória at the Maracanã before facing Cruzeiro.

The tie remains level, so the decisive second leg is at the Maracanã on Wednesday 19, with the winners reaching the quarter-finals and penalties if scores are level again. Before that, Flamengo visit Mirassol in the Brasileirão on Sunday 16 at 18:30 Brasília time at Estádio Maião.

Source: Coluna Do Fla

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”