Flamengo beats Athletico Paranaense and advances to the semifinals of the Copa do Brasil

Flamengo secured its place among the semifinalists of the Copa do Brasil this season, after beating Athletico Paranaense once again on Wednesday night (12), inside the Ligga Arena. The advantage of the rubro-negro led by Jorge Sampaoli had been built since the last confrontation between the two teams in Maracanã, in which the cariocas managed to win by 2-1. with the stadium full, trying to recover from the unrecognizable performance in Rio de Janeiro.

First time

After a very uneven confrontation in the first leg, Flamengo surprised Athlético in the first minutes, something that was not very expected due to the advantage built on the scoreboard. Bento had to appear on two occasions for the visitors, one of them was during Ayrton Lucas’s run down the left wing of the attack and another in a long-range shot made by David Luiz. After that initial pressure, Hurricane took over the game, bringing a lot of danger to the Red-Black defense. Vitor Roque, Erick and Vitor Bueno led the home team’s offensive chances and the jewel from Paraná almost opened the scoring in the 34th minute, hitting Matheus Cunha’s crossbar.

Even superior, Athlético paid for their wasted chances throughout the first half, making Flamengo open the scoring at the Ligga Arena before the break. Thiago Maia received a pass from Everton Ribeiro close to the midfield, the defensive midfielder rose to the opponent’s area, finding Arrascaeta in the middle of the marking . The Uruguayan midfielder tried to adjust and counted on Erick’s headbutt, giving the people of Paraná a cold shower.

Second time

Needing at least two goals, Athlético did not slow down in the offensive system, trying to press from the beginning, but began to be neutralized by the opponent’s defense. Vitor Bueno and Christian even threatened the Flamengo goalkeeper with shots a few times, but nothing reduced the advantage. When Hurricane managed to break through the blockade and had space to finish inside the area, it stopped at Matheus Cunha.

In a similar context as seen during the first half, it was Flamengo who returned to the nets in Curitiba. Gabriel cleared the defense in a speedy counterattack and managed to dribble past Bento, the Red-Black striker’s goal ended up being annulled by VAR after a lengthy review. In addition, the number 10 came out celebrating with the crowd when he saw the analysis on the stadium’s big screen.

With the rain punishing everyone inside the Ligga Arena, despite having the only retractable roof in South America, Hurricane continued wasting chances in the attack until the end of the confrontation. In most of the clearer opportunities, Flamengo’s defense fared better, blocking all the shots or when the ball hit the post in a poisonous corner kick. After a lot of confusion between the two teams, Thiago Heleno and Gerson ended up being expelled, leaving both teams with 10. The spaces on the field and realizing that Athletico had delivered, the visitors gave the final numbers to the game, Gabriel closed the scoring in the 47th minute .

After the victories achieved in both games, Flamengo secured a place in the semi-finals of the Copa do Brasil, even suffering in the return match, in Curitiba. The confrontation broke the tie in the recent retrospect between the two teams, which have faced each other in the last editions since 2019. So far, red-negro Carioca has won three times against the team from Paraná, while Hurricane has advanced only twice. Mengão faces Grêmio in the next phase, in the weeks of August 9th and 16th, while the other side of the match will be decided this Thursday (13th).

Featured Photo: Flamengo players celebrating during the match. Playback/Twitter