Author: Amrit Santlani
Flamengo beat Gremio 2-0 under Jorge Sampaoli in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil semi-final.
The match was played at the Gremio Arena and the hosts missed easy chances early on, before being punished for their lacklustre finishing on Thursday, July 27. It should be noted that Flamengo had 7 shots on goal, while Grêmio only managed to hit the target once. At the same time, the hosts had possession of the ball for only 35% of the game.
Just four minutes into the game, Luis Suárez made his team’s intentions clear, as the Uruguayan took advantage of a misplaced pass from his opponents and curled an audacious 60-yard shot towards the Flamengo goal.
Ten minutes later, Cunha again misplaced a pass and, to make up for his error, made a point-blank save to keep the score at 0-0 when Suárez’s shot sailed over the bar.
Fabrício Bruno tested Gabriel Grando with a fine volley, but the Grêmio goalkeeper made the save.
Shortly after the midway point of the first half, Gremio were punished for their negligence when Gabriel Barbosa opened the scoring with a tap-in inside the area. The striker completed a brilliant team move, with Bruno Henrique providing the assist.
The former Inter Milan striker had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 when Flamengo conceded a penalty, but Grando made a smart save to keep his side in the contest.
After the restart, the home side’s task became even more difficult as they were reduced to ten men, Walter Kannemann received his second yellow for a clumsy foul and the Gremio fans were furious.
Eight minutes into the second half, Flamengo made the most of their advantage and scored their second goal. The last touch came from Bruno Alves and was therefore considered an own goal.
The final score could have been even more balanced, however, as neither Henrique nor substitute Pedro had the conduct to hit the target, despite showing excellent individual skills to run towards the Gremio goal.