Fluminense’s goal was to at least draw with São Paulo, at the Maracanã, in the 36th round of the Brazilian Championship, to secure their place in the Pre-Libertadores 2026 tournament. But what Tricolor fans saw on Thursday was a brilliant performance from Rio Tricolor, who overcame the visitors in the first stage, scoring three goals, and dominated with deadly counterattacks in the second half, completing the scoreline 6-0. The goals came from Canobbio (2), Matthews Martinelli, Nonato, John Kennedy and Serna.
This was Fluminense’s heaviest defeat in a clash with São Paulo, the previous being a 7-2 defeat to the Rio Tricolor in 1960 in the Rio-São Paulo Cup. With this result, the team rose two places (fifth) with 58 points, surpassing Bahia (currently seventh with 56 points) and Botafogo (now sixth with the same score of 58, but one victory less) and reaching fifth place in the Libertadores in six years.
The Rio Tricolor not only secured their place in the pre-Libertadores qualifiers, but also secured fifth place in the group stage. While the visitor, who is in eighth place with 48 goals, relied on the victory to continue the chances in the final half. Now, the only way for Sao Paulo to qualify is with Fluminense or Cruzeiro potentially winning the Copa do Brasil – a result that would see the Group of Seven become the Group of Eight.
Fluminense’s next confrontation will be with Gremio in the south, at 9:30 pm, on Tuesday, and the last against Bahia, at home, on Sunday (7). In the next round, Sao Paulo will face Internacional at eight o’clock on Wednesday evening, in Villa Belmiro.
The first half was overwhelming
Before the start of the match, the home team had some fear: captain and ref Thiago Silva felt discomfort in his right knee during the warm-up. The defender, like midfielder Lucho Acosta, had been rested in the previous match, against Palmeiras, in the 35th round, to avoid injury. But it was nothing more than a simple panic and the player took to the field.
On Samuel Xavier’s cross, the ball bounced off Alan Franco’s hand, and the referee awarded the penalty kick at the beginning of the match. Uruguayan Canobbio hit the ball in the middle of the field and opened the scoring eight minutes after the start of the first half.
Although they were behind on the scoreboard, the team coached by Hernan Crespo was not afraid and started more aggressive on the field. However, this attack ended up being used against the team, after a foul on the ball from midfielder Pablo Maia, the Rio Tricolor player quickly counter-attacked the defense deployed in attack to create plays.
In the transition, the ball stopped at the feet of Samuel Xavier, who sent a cross for Everaldo’s header. The shot hit a Sao Paulo defender, but the rebound was left for Matthews Martinelli to shoot into the empty goal.
When a setback hit Zubeldia’s system, with the early departure of midfielder Hercules – who felt uncomfortable – and his replacement by Nonato, it seemed that the good tide could subside, but it did not happen.
With the second goal, Sao Paulo calmed down and did not forgive Fluminense. In his first move on the field, the same player stole the ball from Sao Paulo in the defense area and began the attack on the left side. Serna received it and sent it to the edge of the penalty area, then passed it back to Nonato, who beautifully dribbled past defender Ferrarisi and slotted the shot under the goalkeeper’s feet.
The unrecognizable Sao Paulo was easy prey for Fluminense, who continued to shoot with Everaldo, Lucho and Serna, who lost face to face with the goalkeeper. It was no more incredible a move than strike partner Canobbio, who received an oblivious ball from the São Paulo defender and had time and space to think before the goalkeeper arrived, but it hit the crossbar.
After the break, Crespo made changes that balanced the match. Sao Paulo reduced errors when passing the ball and began to occupy the offensive field more, going so far as to finish the ball and force Fabio to work, unlike what happened in the first half.
But the team continued to suffer deadly counterattacks from the home team. On one such pass, Lucho left Serna in a great position to finish off the game, but the Colombian’s well-placed shot ended up in the hands of Young, with another brilliant save.
But the goalkeeper was unable to save the next shot. Cannobio made a beautiful throw to Serna who passed it to JFK. The striker received the ball, already dribbling the mark with his first touch and celebrating the goal with the second, after firing a powerful shot into the goalkeeper’s left corner.
And in the end, to mark the best match in the tri-colour jersey, Canobbio increased the score by receiving a beautiful pass and confronting the goalkeeper to score his second of the day and the fifth for Fluminense.
In the 42nd minute of the second half, Serna completed the scoring by pushing Sotildo’s pass into the goal, completing Flo’s landslide victory at home.