Corinthians lose to Fluminense, winless run grows, Dorival under pressure | OneFootball

Corinthians were defeated by Fluminense on Wednesday night at the Maracanã, 3-1, in the ninth round of the Brazilian Championship. The result extended Timão’s winless run to eight matches this season and increased the pressure on coach Dorival Júnior. John Kennedy, Hércules and Castillo scored for the Tricolor das Laranjeiras, while André pulled one back for the visitors.

International debut

The match marked the debut of English attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard in the black-and-white shirt. However, the player’s performance was understated. He came on at halftime but was hindered by Allan’s red card early in the second half, which left the team down to 10 men.

Standings situation

The defeat dropped Corinthians to 11th place in the table with 10 points. Fluminense, meanwhile, moved up to second place in the Brasileirão. The Tricolor das Laranjeiras have the same 19 points as leaders Palmeiras, who have a game in hand.

🔴🟢 FLUMINENSE 3 x 1 CORINTHIANS ⚫⚪

🏆 Competition: Brazilian Championship (9th round) 🏟️ Venue: Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) 📅 Date: April 1, 2026 (Wednesday) ⏰ Kickoff: 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) 🟨 Yellow cards: Matheus Bidu, André and Matheus Pereira (Corinthians); Lucho Acosta (Fluminense) 🟥 Red cards: Allan (Corinthians)

Officiating

Goals:

🔴🟢 Fluminense

Fábio; Samuel Xavier, Jemmes, Freytes and Renê; Martinelli (Cano), Hércules (Alisson) and Lucho Acosta (Ganso); Savarino, Kevin Serna (Soteldo) and John Kennedy (Castillo). Coach: Luis Zubeldía

⚫⚪ Corinthians

Kauê; Matheuzinho, Gabriel Paulista, Gustavo Henrique and Matheus Bidu (Angileri); Allan, Charles (Matheus Pereira), André, Breno Bidon (Jesse Lingard) and Rodrigo Garro (Dieguinho); Yuri Alberto (Zakaria Labyad). Coach: Dorival Júnior

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How the match unfolded

Corinthians threatened in the very first minute of the match. André won the ball back in the attacking half and played it to Yuri Alberto, who laid it off for Allan. The midfielder unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box and forced goalkeeper Fábio into a great save.

That, however, was Timão’s only chance in the first half. From then on, it was all Fluminense, who opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Bidon attempted a backheel pass and gifted possession to the Tricolor das Laranjeiras, who broke on the counterattack through Serna. The forward got past Gabriel Paulista and squared it for John Kennedy to dribble around Kauê and send it into the back of the net.

The home side doubled their lead in the 47th minute. Once again, Serna burst forward on the counter down the left and curled a shot against the post. The rebound fell to Hércules, who simply tapped into the empty net.

Second half

Coach Dorival Júnior made three changes at halftime, bringing on Angileri, Matheus Pereira and Englishman Jesse Lingard. However, the plan fell apart after Allan was sent off in the sixth minute.

With a man down, Corinthians came under even more pressure from Fluminense. The Rio side nearly added a third in the 20th minute, when Serna made a good run down the left and squared it for John Kennedy, whose close-range effort was stopped by Kauê. From the rebound, Samuel Xavier fired toward the top corner, but Timão’s goalkeeper stretched and made the save.

The visitors, however, could not hold out and conceded a third in the 37th minute. After a good passing move inside the box, Martinelli laid it off for Castillo, who fired across goal and bulged the net. Corinthians still had time to reduce the deficit through André in the 43rd minute.

Upcoming matches

Fluminense

Corinthians

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