Marquinhos shines against Colo-Colo, and Fluminense wins the first in the Libertadores

Fluminense achieved its first victory in the Libertadores. This Wednesday, the tricolors beat Colo-Colo 2-1 at Maracanã. With the result, the Cariocas reached four points and took the lead in group A, one ahead of the Chileans.

Fluminense opened the scoring in the first half, with Marquinhos. However, Colo-Colo drew shortly afterwards, with Paiva. In the final stage, the tricolors scored again, this time with Cano.

In the next round, Fluminense will face Cerro Porteño-PAR on April 25th, in Asunción, at 7 pm (Brasília time). Colo-Colo will host Alianza Lima-PER, on the 23rd, in Santiago, this time at 9:30 pm (Brasília time).

The game

Colo-Colo tried to surprise Fluminense by scoring the ball. However, the tricolors got out of the trap and opened the scoring after four minutes. Marquinhos was released and shot past goalkeeper Cortés without a chance.

But the visitors didn’t feel the setback. So much so that Colo-Colo went on the attack and equalized in the 18th minute. Paiva took advantage of a corner kick and headed it into the net.

The match remained busy after the Chileans’ goal. Fluminense had difficulty getting ahead and still suffered from Colo-Colo’s advances. The Cariocas only came into danger in the 30th minute, when Marcelo took advantage of a corner kick and hit a great first-time shot. The ball hit the defense and prevented what could have been a great goal at Maracanã.

In the final part, Fluminense increased the intensity and was again in danger in the 37th minute. Lima received a pass in the area, but shot across the baseline. Thus, the duel remained the same until halftime.

In the second half, the home team continued with their offensive stance. Fluminense were rewarded in the sixth minute, when Cano took advantage of a cross and headed it into the net.

The goal didn’t change Fluminense. So much so that Cano almost scored the third straight away. The Argentine took advantage of the hit and rebound, but shot from the baseline. But Colo-Colo returned to the attack and almost equalized in the 25th minute, Vidal was thrown into the area and shot for a great save by Fábio. On the rebound, Palácios hit André.

Colo-Colo found the net in the 29th minute, with Zavala. However, the goal was disallowed after the VAR called the referee for the Chilean striker’s hand during the play.

Just when it looked like the visitors would increase the pressure, Colo-Colo were left with one player less after Weimberg was sent off. The left-back received a second yellow card,

In the final part, Fluminense tried to take advantage of the numerical advantage, but abused passing errors. Colo-Colo remained in search of attack, but little bothered the tricolor defense, which maintained the victory at Maracanã.

DATASHEET
FLUMINENSE 2 X 1 COLO-COLO-CHI

Location: Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Date: April 9, 2024 (Tuesday)
Time: 9pm (Brasília time)
Referee: Jesús Valenzuela (Venezuela)
Assistants: Antoni Garcia (Venezuela) and Tulio Moreno (Venezuela)
VAR: Carlos Lopez (Venezuela)
Yellow cards: Felipe Melo and Fabio (Fluminense); Vidal and Paiva (Colo Colo)
Red card: Weimberg (Colo Colo)

GOALS

FLUMINENSE: Marquinhos, 4 minutes into the first half; Cano, 6 minutes into the second half

COLO COLO: Paiva, 18 minutes into the first half

FLUMINENSE: Fábio, Samuel Xavier, Felipe Melo (Lelê) (Antonio Carlos), Martinelli and Marcelo; André, Lima (Kauã Elias), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Terans) and Jhon Arias; Marquinhos and Germán Cano (Felipe Andrade)
Coach: Fernando Diniz

COLO-COLO: Brayan Cortés, Óscar Opazo, Alan Saldivia, Maximiliano Falcón (Amor) and Erick Wiemberg; Leonardo Gil, Esteban Pavez and Arturo Vidal; Carlos Palacios (Pizarro), Marcos Bolados (Zavala) and Guillermo Paiva (Daniel Gutiérrez)
Coach: Jorge Almirón