Hulk ends goal drought as Fluminense beat Bahia in friendly | OneFootball

Fluminense beat Bahia 2-0 in their final friendly before the Brazilian Championship resumes. After a first half with few clear chances, the tricolor side relied on one goal from Hulk and another from Germán Cano to secure the win. Besides the No. 7’s first goal in the tricolor shirt, the match also marked Thiago Silva’s return debut for Fluminense.

How the match went

First half:

In a very scrappy first half, the two teams created almost no goal-scoring chances. The first shot of the half came in the 39th minute. Savarino played a beautiful through ball to JK, the No. 9 hit a low shot across goal, but the goalkeeper came out well and made the save. Deep into stoppage time, Bahia won a free kick on the edge of the box. Rodrigo Nestor struck it hard toward the keeper’s corner, and Fábio made a great save to keep the score level.

Second half:

For the second half, Zubeldía made 11 substitutions: Samuel Xavier, Ignácio, Freytes, Thiago Silva (who came on a little later, in the 23rd minute), Otávio, Nonato, Hulk, Soteldo, Riquelme, and Castillo entered the team. In the 33rd minute, Riquelme was substituted and Germán Cano came on.

The match remained somewhat flat, but the tricolor side started to apply a bit more pressure, though, just like in the first half, they struggled to finish. In the 17th minute, Samuel Xavier won a penalty and Hulk converted with no chance for the goalkeeper, scoring his first goal in a Fluminense shirt. After the goal, the match became bogged down again in midfield. Bahia even had a bit more possession, but without causing much danger to the tricolor side.

In the 39th minute, the Time de Guerreiros scored their second. Hulk played Samuel Xavier through down the flank, the right-back sent in a low cross to the middle of the box, and Germán Cano finished it into the net.

Next match

Fluminense return to action next Friday (17) to face RB Bragantino in the 19th round of the Brazilian Championship. The match is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at the Maracanã.

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