Not on Ancelotti’s list for the World Cup, the striker led the red-black team’s early classification in the continental tournament
Outside of Carlo Ancelotti’s final World Cup squad, Pedro responded in the best possible way inside the field. The attacker scored the winning goal do Flemish about the Students 1-0, on Wednesday (20), at Maracanã, and commanded the red-black classification for the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores.
With the result, Flamengo reached ten points and took the lead in Group A. Independiente Medellín appears in second, with seven, followed by Estudiantes, with six. Cusco only has one point. The Rio team should still receive three points relating to the suspense duel against the Colombians, which could further consolidate the top spot.
Pedro, who was only present on Ancelotti’s pre-list, returned show decision-making power at an important moment of the season. The striker is seen as one of the Brazilian team’s immediate alternatives in the event of a physical problem for a player in the offensive sector during the preparation for the World Cup.
The first half at Maracanã had lots of intensity, but little offensive creativity. Flamengo and Estudiantes started out frightening in the opening minutes. The Argentine team was threatened by a header from González Pírez after a corner kick, while Flamengo responded with a shot from Jorginho from outside the area.
In the 32nd minute, Bruno Henrique was brought down by Meza, and the referee even awarded a penalty. After review by the VAR, however, the infraction was pointed out outside the area. When taking the free kick, Léo Pereira demanded a good defense from Muslerawhich further irritated red and black players and fans by delaying ball throw-ins during much of the initial stage.
The scenario changed in the second halfmainly after a decisive failure by the Argentine defense. In the 19th minute, Bruno Henrique made an individual play on the left and seemed to lose the move by advancing the ball too far. Muslera, however, went wrong, got confused and left the clean leftovers for Pedro. The attacker dominated, rotated about Meza and hit left to blow up Maracanã.
The goal opened spaces for Flamengo to control the match even more. Shortly afterwards, Samuel Lino found a great pass for Carrascal to infiltrate freely behind the defense, but the Colombian wasted one-on-one with the goalkeeper. On the rebound, Pedro even tried a shot from behind, but sent it over the crossbar..
Without suffering major defensive scares, the Flamengo managed the advantage until the final whistle and confirmed the early place in the Libertadores knockout stage. On a night of individual response from Pedro and safe collective performance, the red and black team showed strength just as they begin to enter the decisive phase of the season.
TECHNICAL SHEET
FLAMENGO 1 X 0 STUDENTS
FLAMENGO – Rossi; Emerson Royal, Léo Ortiz, Léo Pereira and Ayrton Lucas; Evertton Araújo (Lucas Paquetá), Jorginho and Carrascal (Varela); Luiz Araújo (Samuel Lino), Pedro (Wallace Yan) and Bruno Henrique (De la Cruz). Coach: Leonardo Jardim
STUDENTS – Muslera; Meza, Santiago Núñez, González Pírez and Tomás Palacios; Amondarain (Gaich), Piovi (Gabriel Neves), Alexis Castro (Farías) and Tiago Palacios (Gabricio Pérez); Aguirre (Cetré) and Carrillo. Technical: Alexander Medina.
GOL – Pedro, 19 minutes into the second half.
YELLOW CARDS – Evertton Araújo and Luiz Araújo (Flamengo); González Pírez, Meza, Piovi, Tiago Palacios and Tomás Palacios (Students)
REFEREE – Esteban Ostojich (URU)
INCOME – Not disclosed
PUBLIC – 53,125 fans
LOCAL – Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro (BRA).
