Fluminense waste big chances, draw with La Guaira on Libertadores debut | OneFootball

Fluminense drew 0-0 with Deportivo La Guaira on Tuesday at the Estádio Olímpico de la UCV in the opening round of the Copa Libertadores group stage.

The Tricolor started better, controlling possession more, but could not turn that dominance into clear scoring chances. The match was played at a slow pace, with many misplaced passes and little speed in the plays.

Fluminense’s only great chance came from John Kennedy, who struck dangerously but was denied by a great save from goalkeeper Varela. Aside from that, the first half was very tight and offered few thrills.

The match did not change much after halftime. Fluminense continued to struggle to create attacking moves and posed little threat to the opponent.

The half was marked by two controversial moments. In the first, there was a possible penalty for Fluminense after Osio handled the ball following a Canobbio shot, but the officials did not award it.

In the second controversy, a foul suffered by Castillo should have resulted in the sending-off of Osio, who had already been booked. However, the referee showed the card to another player, Rivero, and VAR did not correct the case of mistaken identity.

In stoppage time, Fluminense still created a good chance through Martinelli, who shot from inside the box but was denied by another great save from Varela.

In the other Group C match, Independiente Rivadavia beat Bolívar 1-0 and moved into first place. At the moment, Fluminense is tied for second with Deportivo La Guaira.

Fluminense’s next match is in the Brasileirão. The team faces Flamengo next Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Maracanã.

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