Fluminense draw blank with Bahia at Maracanã, winless after Copa break | OneFootball

Fluminense drew 0-0 with Bahia on Wednesday night in the 21st round of the Brazilian Championship. On the debut night of their new third kit, Tricolor created good chances in the second half but lacked precision in finishing and could not beat Bahia’s goal. The match drew a modest crowd of just 12,351 at the Maracanã, a direct reflection of the strong wind gusts that hit the city of Rio de Janeiro throughout the day.

The match

Despite dominating possession, Fluminense struggled to break through Bahia’s defense in the first half. The best chance came as early as the 12th minute, when Canobbio crossed from the right, the defense missed it, and Hulk, caught by surprise, tried to finish as goalkeeper Ronaldo came off his line, wasting the opportunity.

In the 40th minute, Tricolor suffered a setback with an injury to center-back Freytes, forcing the introduction of Thiago Silva, who had been rested.

Fluminense came back for the second half much sharper and almost opened the scoring early on, when Hulk took advantage of a defensive error and headed the ball, but a Bahia defender cleared it off the line. In the 16th minute, coach Zubeldía made a triple substitution, bringing on Hércules, Savarino and Igor Rabello for Lucho Acosta, Martinelli and Thiago Silva himself. Bahia responded in the 17th minute with a great shot from Jean Lucas, forcing a miraculous save from Fábio.

The final stretch, however, was all Tricolor pressure. In the 20th minute, Soteldo was denied by Bahia’s goalkeeper after a quick counterattack. With Cano already on the field in place of Hulk, Flu had the chance of the match in the 36th minute: Canobbio went one-on-one with the goalkeeper but missed. Three minutes later, the Uruguayan set up Cano, who fired a low shot, only for the visiting keeper to make another crucial save and preserve the goalless draw.

What it means

With the result, Fluminense is still without a win in the Brazilian Championship since the break for the World Cup. Tricolor has now recorded three straight draws since the competition resumed, against Red Bull Bragantino, Grêmio and now Bahia.

Next match

With little time to dwell on it, Fluminense now turns its attention to the Copa do Brasil. Tricolor returns to the field next Saturday (1st), when it faces Vasco at the Maracanã in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16.

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