Athletico makes three, leaves Flamengo in crisis and decides on Copa do Brasil with Atlético-MG

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Athletico established a crisis at Flamengo, which was already criticized for its performance and is now eliminated from the Copa do Brasil. The team from Paraná had a very happy night, on Wednesday (27), in Rio de Janeiro, they won 3-0 and advanced to the decision.

The goals from Nikão (2) and Zé Ivaldo gave Alberto Valentim’s team credentials to face Atlético-MG in the final, on December 12th and 15th. And they made the coach of the owners of the house, Renato Gaúcho, listen to the shrill and unpublishable curses of the fans present at Maracanã.

In the other semifinal, Atlético-MG advanced with ease. After forwarding his classification with a rout by 4-0 in the first leg, in Belo Horizonte, he confirmed his place by scoring 2-1 at Fortaleza, in Fortaleza, with goals from Diego Costa and Hulk. Romarinho cashed.

The red-black side of the bracket had more balance, at least in the first half. The duel began with a 2-2 draw in Curitiba last week.

In Rio, the visitors presented themselves in a more organized way and built a good advantage even in the initial stage, with two goals from Nikão. The first came out in the tenth minute, with a penalty, and the second, in stoppage time, in the 52nd minute, after a counterattack.

There were boos in the stands as soon as the referee ended the first half, as a reflection of the bad phase of Renato Gaúcho’s team. A month away from playing the Libertadores final against Palmeiras, on November 27, in a single game in Uruguay, Flamengo suffers a disqualification and reaches the fourth game in a row without winning, between commitments for the Brazilian and the national knockout .

Fourth in the Brazilian Championship, with 13 points less than the leader Atlético-MG (59 to 46), the Rio team will now have ten more games in the championship to fix the house before the continental decision.

In the next round, the opponent will be Atlético-MG, on Saturday (30), again at Maracanã. It will be the first test for a team that was very nervous against Athletico.

With eight minutes, the team from Paraná was already winning. Nikão converted a penalty awarded by Wilton Pereira de Sampaio after a call from the VAR (video referee) to review a shot by Filipe Luís on Renato Kayzer in the penalty area.

It was the ideal setting for the plan that Alberto Valentim had designed for his team, closing in on defense and exploring counterattacks. Meanwhile, Flamengo found it difficult to break through the rival defense.

Unable to reach the tie with touches, Flamengo started to insist on balls raised in the area. And almost got a penalty kick, at 33, when the referee understood as a foul a bump between Bruno Henrique and Thiago Heleno. Called again for a review, Wilton canceled the appointment he had made in the field.

Adding the two revisions plus the care of injured players, the game was stopped for so long that the referee gave ten minutes of stoppage time before the break. And it was precisely in discounts that Nikão scored again, at 52.

Like the first 45 minutes, the second stage at Maracanã was an attack against defense game. And the owners of the house tried in every way to discount the score. Michael hit the crossbar, Gabigol worked with a crossed kick, Bruno Henrique tried with his head, but the ball didn’t cross the goal defended by goalkeeper Santos.

The passage of time only made the red-black team more and more nervous, while Athletico was waiting for the end of the game, to confirm the classification for the second final that will lie ahead in the final stretch of the season – the team also decides the title of the Copa Sudamericana, against Red Bull Bragantino, on November 20th.

Before the end of the match, Khellven was sent off after a hard foul on Ramon, at 35. Not even that was enough for Flamengo’s reaction. In the end, in a counterattack, Zé Ivaldo also hit Diego Alves’ exit to expand.

With less tension than at Maracanã, Atlético-MG beat Fortaleza at Castelão with goals from Diego Alves, in the second half, at 13 minutes, and Hulk, at 38, with a penalty. Romarinho scored for the hosts, at 44.

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