In one of the great games of the Brazilian Championship in 2022, Atlético-MG missed the chance to take the lead in the competition and had serious defensive problems when losing to Fluminense 5-3, at Maracanã, in a duel valid for the 10th round, this Wednesday (8). Cano was the top scorer of the game with two goals, with Arias, Samuel Xavier and Luiz Henrique also scoring for the Rio de Janeiro team. Hulk, Jair and Eduardo Sasha scored for the Minas Gerais team.
The defeat made Galo stop at 16 points, dropping to fourth place. And the team can still lose a position this Thursday (9), in the complement of the round. Fluminense, on the other hand, recovered from the defeats in the two previous commitments for the Brasileirão and reached 14 points, in seventh position.
Atlético-MG, who had not conceded more than two goals under Antonio Mohamed in 32 games this season, have conceded three in the opening 36 minutes. And it ended up being leaked twice more in the second half. It was, in fact, for the first time since December 2011, when they fell 6-1 to Cruzeiro, that the team conceded five or more goals in a match.
Thus, after suffering with a disastrous night of its defensive system, losing the chance to take the lead in the Brasileirão, Atlético-MG also ended a series of eight games without defeat for Fluminense, having won the three previous commitments. The last triumph of the Carioca team in the confrontation had been in October 2018.
In a game with so many goals and attended by 16,143 fans, the top scorers of the teams, of course, stood out. Cano reached 21 this season, one more than Hulk, on a more discreet night. Both are with six goals in the Brasileirão, in the runner-up, alongside Mendoza, from Ceará. The trio is only behind São Paulo’s Calleri, with 8. Cano’s teammate in attack, Luiz Henrique also stood out with a goal and two assists, as did Jair on the Atletico side.
How was the game
Against Fluminense, Antonio Mohamed repeated the formation that drew 0-0 with Palmeiras last weekend, choosing to give Guilherme Arana a break, who returned from the Brazilian team, but having the bench reinforced by Keno, recently recovered of injury and triggered during the second half. However, he continued without being able to use Zaracho, Vargas and Dodô, all with physical problems, as well as Godín, in the Uruguayan team.
But Galo was not even close to repeating the safe performance of Sunday (5), being involved by Fluminense’s touch of the ball, who almost scored after 3 minutes with Cano. And he did it in a beautiful collective play at 17, when Ganso crossed low for Luiz Henrique to fix the ball and Arias to hit the angle. And in another bid with the participation of several players, he scored for the second time at 25, this time with a goal from the chest by Cano, after a cross by Samuel Xavier.
At that moment, Atlético-MG started to try to react in the match, having finished for the first time in the game in the 23rd minute, with Hulk. The team also had a good opportunity at 33, when Fábio made a difficult save in Eduardo Sasha’s header. But the goalkeeper failed in the next move, having a pass intercepted by Jair. The midfielder crossed for Hulk to head the net in the 34th minute.
The problem for the mineiros was that the defense made several mistakes, well used by Fluminense, who scored for the third time in the 36th minute, with Samuel Xavier anticipating Luiz Henrique’s cross to make it 3-1. defensive spaces. And Galo scored again in stoppage time, in the 48th minute, with Jair completing Alonso’s cross. The departure for the break took place with a discussion between the two teams, showing that the confrontation was hot.
And the electrifying rhythm of the first half was repeated at the beginning of the second. Fluminense, even with the advantage, did not stop attacking, giving Everson trouble in shooting from afar from Samuel Xavier and David Braz. But it was Atlético-MG who scored. In the 7th minute, Jair stole the ball from Arias, scored with Ademir and crossed to Sasha, who headed the goal.
However, Fluminense did not give up and scored twice in a period of 5 minutes. At 13, Cris Silva crossed from the left and the ball was left for Cano, free, who hit the first time, hitting the angle. Then, at 18, Luiz Henrique was launched by André in speed and hit the half-moon to make it 5 to 3.
From then on, Fluminense finally managed to have more control of the match. Atlético-MG did not stop attacking and had their main chance to score with Keno, in the 30th minute. But this time the Minas Gerais team could not react again and ended up losing by the rare score of 5 to 3.
Schedule
The teams will return to play at 19:00 next Saturday (11). Atlético-MG will host Santos, at Mineirão, while Fluminense will face Atlético-GO, again at Maracanã. The duels will be valid for the 11th round of the Brasileirão.
Source: CNN Brasil
