Fluminense dominate, survive scare, win late through John Kennedy | OneFootball

Fluminense beat Chapecoense 2-1 on Sunday night at the Maracanã in the 13th round of the Brazilian Championship. With a crowd of only 13,885 fans, Tricolor controlled most of the match, opened the scoring with Savarino from the penalty spot, conceded the equalizer in the second half, but sealed the win with a John Kennedy goal in the closing minutes.

How did the match go?

First half

Fluminense started the match by putting Chapecoense under pressure at the Maracanã and created good chances right in the opening minutes. Arana and Guga both had dangerous shots and forced the opposing goalkeeper into action. Tricolor mainly attacked down the right flank, with Guga and Canobbio playing a big role in moves into the final third.

With more attacking presence, the team piled up shots throughout the first half. Savarino looked dangerous with efforts from medium range, while Castillo also came up with good plays inside the box. Despite the attacking volume and control of the match, the team struggled to turn its chances into goals.

The best opportunity came from a powerful Savarino strike from outside the box, saved by the Chapecoense goalkeeper. Superior throughout the first half, Fluminense went into the break with a huge edge in shots — 19 to 4 — but still unable to break the deadlock.

Second half

Fluminense came back from halftime with a change: Serna made way for Soteldo. The team resumed the pressure from the opening minutes and, in the 11th minute, took the lead at the Maracanã. After a corner, the ball struck a Chapecoense defender’s arm inside the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Savarino converted the spot kick to put Tricolor ahead.

After the goal, the pace of the match dropped for a few minutes. That proved costly for Flu in the 31st minute in a game that had seemed settled: Ênio hit a beautiful shot to level the match.

After conceding, Luis Zubeldía made attacking changes, bringing on Ganso, John Kennedy and Alisson in place of Canobbio, Hércules and Bernal. The change paid off in the 40th minute. In a move built with the involvement of Soteldo and Alisson, John Kennedy received the ball inside the box and hit a powerful left-footed shot to score the second late in the match and secure Fluminense’s victory.

What does it mean?

With the result, Fluminense move up to 26 points and sit third in the Brazilian Championship, behind only Flamengo and Palmeiras. Their Rio rivals, however, still have a game in hand.

Fluminense return to action next Thursday against Bolívar, at the altitude of La Paz, in the third round of the Libertadores group stage.

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