Fluminense put on a show, thrash São Paulo and seal 2026 Libertadores spot | OneFootball

Fluminense enjoyed a gala night at Maracanã this Thursday (27th). Luis Zubeldía’s team put on a great performance to thrash São Paulo 6-0 and secure a spot in the next edition of the Copa Libertadores. The tricolor side counted on goals from Canobbio (2), Martinelli, Nonato, John Kennedy, and Kevin Serna to claim victory. With the three points, Fluminense reached 58 points and climbed to fifth place.

First Half

Fluminense started the match on the front foot and, just five minutes in, after a VAR check, the referee awarded a penalty following a handball by Alan Franco from a Samuel Xavier cross. Canobbio stepped up and opened the scoring at Maracanã. After the goal, São Paulo even tried to push forward on a few occasions. But in one of them, at the 15th minute, the tricolor launched a counter-attack after Everaldo won the ball. Samuel Xavier crossed from the right while sliding, the number 9 tried to head it but the ball deflected off the defender and fell to Martinelli, who doubled the lead for Flu.

The tricolor didn’t let up and, at the 22nd minute, Nonato won the ball in midfield and passed to Serna, who accelerated down the wing. The number 90 returned it to the midfielder, who dribbled past the defender and scored the third for the tricolor. Nonato had just come on after Hércules suffered a muscle injury. With the result practically secured, Fluminense continued to dominate the first half and controlled the game without any trouble. In the final minutes, Canobbio and Serna missed two clear chances to further increase the score.

Second Half

With a wide lead on the scoreboard, the second half started off rather quietly but once again with Fluminense on top. Even while managing the result, the tricolor threatened again at the 12th minute with Martinelli. São Paulo even improved a bit, managing to get forward, but without any real danger. Shortly after, the tricolor broke out quickly on the counter with Lucho Acosta, the Argentine found Serna, who forced a great save from Young.

Soon after, Fluminense broke out on another counter with Acosta, who passed to Canobbio. The Uruguayan switched play to Serna on the left, the Colombian played it to John Kennedy, who dribbled past the defender and scored the fourth at Maracanã. Luiz Zubeldía’s team kept up the intensity and at the 34th minute, Nonato found Canobbio unmarked, who carried the ball down the wing and finished past the goalkeeper to make it five.

Even with the win secured, the team of warriors kept pushing forward and JK nearly added another. At the 41st minute, Ganso played Soteldo in down the left, the Venezuelan made a good play and set up Serna, who finished alone to score the sixth goal at Maracanã.

Next Match

In the 37th round of the Brasileirão, Fluminense will travel to Porto Alegre to face Grêmio. The tricolor will visit the Gaucho tricolor at Arena do Grêmio next Tuesday (02) at 9:30 PM.

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