Fluminense beats Flamengo and opens up an advantage in the Women's Copa do Brasil

In the first Fla-Flu for the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil Feminina, better for the tricolors. On Thursday night (15), Fluminense beat Flamengo 2-1 in the classic held at the Luso-Brasileiro Stadium.

The return game will also be at the stadium in the north of Rio de Janeiro, next Thursday (22), at 7 pm (Brasília time), but with tricolor control. For Flu, a draw is enough to qualify for the semi-finals. Rubro-Negro must win by at least two goals in normal time. If the victory is by one goal, equaling the total of the scores, the decision will be on penalties.

Fluminense scored twice in the initial stage, but the first goal was disallowed for offside. In the 34th minute, Lelê took advantage of goalkeeper Vivi Holzel's incorrect exit, which collided with defender Núbia, and sent it into the goal. The move, however, was canceled due to the attacker being offside, after intervention by Philip Georg Bennett, the match's video referee. The match was stopped for six minutes.

At 45, the tricolors finally opened the scoring. Striker Raquel Fernandes crossed from the left and defender Nath Rodrigues appeared in the small area behind the red-black defense to finish in Vivi Holzel's corner.

Flamengo tried to respond right after the break. 20 seconds into the second half, Cristiane received the ball behind her marker and finished past goalkeeper Kemelli. The attacker, however, was well advanced and the goal was disallowed for offside.

At nine minutes, Meninas da Gávea went to the net again. This time, the goal counted. Activated by Fabi Simões at the edge of the area on the right, fellow striker Laysa signaled the cross but shot straight, hitting Kemelli's angle to leave everything the same in the Luso-Brazilian.

Despite the best red and black moment, it was Fluminense who reached second. In the 18th minute, full-back Keké launched into the area from the right wing, Lelê dominated with his back to the marking and rolled for midfielder Driely to shoot low and hit the right corner of Vivi Holzel, who didn't even move.

Flamengo's mission became more difficult at 39, when midfielder Mariana received a second yellow card and was sent off. Even with one player less, Meninas da Gávea took the lead with the debut of Paraguayan striker Fabíola Sandoval, who was at Cruzeiro, but in a disorganized manner, without success. Fluminense took advantage of numerical superiority to control the game until the final whistle.

Draw at Beira-Rio

Last Wednesday (14), Internacional and Atlético-MG drew 1-1 at Beira-Rio, in Porto Alegre. The teams will meet again next Tuesday (20), at 7pm, at Arena MRV, in Belo Horizonte. The decision will be on penalties in the event of a new draw.

Defender Giovanna Barraca put the Avengers ahead after just two minutes of the first half and Pimenta almost doubled the score in the 15th minute, but the second goal for the Minas Gerais team was canceled out due to a touch of the arm. Seven minutes later, fellow striker Caty, with a penalty, prevented the hosts from defeat.

This Friday (16), the first duel between Bahia and São Paulo takes place. The ball rolls at Batistão, in Aracaju, from 7pm. The second match will be next Wednesday (21), at the same time, at the Brinco de Ouro da Princesa Stadium, in Campinas (SP).