With the starters back, Serna shines as Fluminense beat Nova Iguaçu | OneFootball

On an inspired night for Kevin Serna, Fluminense defeated Nova Iguaçu 3-2 in the third round of the Campeonato Carioca. The match marked the return of the main players to the squad. The Colombian scored twice and Everaldo once to seal the victory for the tricolor. With this result, the Warriors Team climbed to second place in Group A of the competition, with six points.

How the match went

Playing with their main players, Fluminense started the match with high intensity, pressing Nova Iguaçu from the very beginning. The first shot came in the very first minute, with Everaldo. But aside from that play, the tricolor only forced goalkeeper Mota to make one other save, from a Ganso free kick in stoppage time. The Warriors Team managed to create chances but failed to finish plays with the number 9 and once with Martinelli.

Playing more on the counterattack, Nova Iguaçu opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Rickelme took advantage of a mistake by Freytes, passed to Leo David, who finished past Fábio.

Fluminense came back for the second half with Serna replacing Matheus Reis and the team pressing their opponent from the start. In the 9th minute, Martinelli flicked a header at the near post after a corner kick and number 90 finished it into the net, leveling the score. Shortly after, in the 12th minute, Everaldo received the ball from Samuel Xavier, turned on the defender and finished with no chance for the goalkeeper, turning the game around at Luso Brasileiro.

The Warriors Team kept up the pace and continued to attack. In the 20th minute, the referee awarded a penalty on Everaldo and sent off defender Sidão. But Canobbio missed the penalty and number 9 also missed the rebound. The tricolor's lead didn’t last much longer. In the 26th minute, Ignácio headed against his own goal, Fábio made a great save but on the rebound Jorge Pedra leveled the score again.

The tricolor kept pressing Nova Iguaçu and managed to get back in front. In the 33rd minute, Ganso took a classy free kick, the ball crashed off the crossbar and on the rebound, Serna finished into the net. Even while winning, Fluminense remained the better side and almost extended their lead with plays from Canobbio, JK, and Serna.

Next match

In the next round, Fluminense faces Flamengo on Sunday, January 25, at 6pm, at Maracanã. This will be the tricolor's first derby of the season.

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