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Atletico-GO and Santos' victories lead to a fight for Libertadores

Goianos defeat Inter in Beira-Rio and São Paulo beat Flamengo in RJ
Lincoln Chaves - Repórter da TV Brasil e da Rádio Nacional
Published on 06/12/2021 - 23:01
São Paulo
flamengo, santos, brasileiro, série a
© Ivan Storti/ Santos FC/Direitos Reservados

The dispute for places in the preliminary round of Libertadores was even more convoluted after the results of this Monday (6). In the complement of the 37th round, Atlético-GO won the direct confrontation against Internacional, by 2-1 at Beira-Rio, while Santos defeated Flamengo by 1-0 at Maracanã. Goianos and São Paulo nurture chances to enter the G8.

In Rio de Janeiro, the two teams had opportunities to open the scoring in the first half, but goalkeepers João Paulo and Hugo Souza prevented the net from swinging. Rubro-Negro also had a goal disallowed by striker Pedro, at 28 minutes, after the intervention of the video referee (VAR), who saw an offside from full-back Matheuzinho at the origin of the play.

In the final stage, the VAR was decisive again, validating Marcos Leonardo's goal, at 11 minutes, which had been disallowed under the allegation of the Santos forward being offside. At 18, defender Kayky scored a penalty on Vitinho, but striker Gabriel wasted his chance of a draw, hitting the crossbar. The hosts put pressure on, without success, irritating the more than 40 thousand fans present at Maracanã.

Santos was 49 points, in 11th position, one point behind América-MG, eighth place and last team in the classification zone for the pre-Libertadores. Peixe must beat Cuiabá this Thursday (9), at 9:30 pm (Brasilia time), in Vila Belmiro, in addition to rooting for other results to guarantee itself in the main tournament on the continent. Flamengo follows with 71 points, already with the vice-championship assured.

In Porto Alegre, goalkeeper Marcelo Lomba saved Inter in dangerous submissions from midfielder Rickson and striker Montenegro, while the crossbar avoided midfielder Baralhas's goal. All this in the first 25 minutes of the ball rolling. Despite the pressure from Atlético-GO, Colorado was the one who came out ahead. On minute 32, forward Yuri Alberto completed a cross from the left with his chest and returned to swing the net after seven rounds.

The reaction of the people from Goiás did not take long. At 44, Baralhas hit a bomb at the angle, from the intermediate one, to tie. Two minutes later, forward Janderson received a low cross from full-back Arnaldo on the right and turned the score. In the final stage, Dragão neutralized Inter, who found it difficult to set up dangerous moves and the score did not change anymore. The home crowd booed the team after the final whistle in Beira-Rio.

Goias took ninth place, with the same 50 points as América-MG, surpassed by goal difference. The Gauchos, with 48 points, dropped to 12th position and need a combination of results to get a spot in Libertadores. On Thursday, at 9.30 pm, Atlético-GO receives Flamengo at Antônio Accioly, in Goiânia, while Inter visit Red Bull Bragantino at the Nabi Abi Chedid stadium, in Bragança Paulista (SP).

Text translated using artificial intelligence.