Frustrated, Sotildo scores two goals and leads Fluminense to victory over Gremio away from home

Sotildo’s last goal was scored when he was still playing for the Rio Grande do Sul Tricolor, in October 2024. With this result, the Rio Tricolor has reached 61 points and is in fifth place behind Botafogo (59 points) and will have to “dry” its rival to reach the final round of the Brazilian championship, with a direct place in the Libertadores. The black and white team will face Cruzeiro next Thursday, at 7:30 pm, away from home.

Fluminense will play the 38th and final match of the tournament against Bahia at the Maracana Stadium. In a direct confrontation, North-East has 57 points and has two matches remaining. The other confrontation will be with Sport (20), who were already relegated on Wednesday, at home.

It took Sotildo just 19 minutes to make his addition worthwhile. Good positioning, the Venezuelan took advantage of a cross from Serna on the right side, which was not intercepted by the Rio Grande do Sul defense, and closed it on the left side. Unmarked, he just pushed the ball into the goal. But he had to wait for VAR to confirm the goal due to Lucho Acosta’s position at the beginning of the game. The move was canceled due to offside, but the referee overturned the decision.

The goal woke up the home team, who began to control the ball more in attack, leading to more attempts on goal, especially with Pavon. With a shot from outside the area, the striker crossed from the left to the center and hit the corner strongly, but Fabio blocked it wonderfully.

He then missed one of Gremio’s great chances of the match, when William passed the ball to Alisson in the penalty area. Crossed by the player, the ball passed between the defenders but found Pavon alone, but the striker blocked the way and missed the opportunity.

Sotildo’s night could have ended early due to the clash between him and Marcos Rocha. The right-back tried to advance in front of the attacking midfielder and head the ball, but it hit the back of the Venezuelan’s head. The two stayed on the ground for a few minutes.

However, it was a night for the attacking midfielder. Already recovering, Sotildo left Rene in a great position with a backheel pass that fooled the marker. The full-back played back, but Everaldo cleared the ball from the small area.

In stoppage time of the first half, Pavon, who missed some shots, crossed Andre’s head and the player equalized the game, but it was ruled offside and the move was disallowed.

However, Gremio came back from the break more aggressive in their marking and almost scored a quick goal when defender Fritz lost the ball on his way out and took a penalty from Andre as he tried to recover on the move, but was lucky to see the striker tap the ball away.

Just when Mano Menezes’ side looked close to goal, they were involved in a brilliant move from the Rio tricolor. Gremio’s control did not find the ball as Fluminense exchanged quick passes from midfield to the wing with Rene.

The player sent a cross to Everaldo, who heeled it towards Lucho, and then the Argentine passed it directly to the other foreigner to increase the score, with his left.

But the celebration did not last long. In the next match, the home team continued the attack and won a corner kick. On the beat, Andre headed home the goal and headed it back. This time, without stopping.

Even with the advantage on the scoreboard, the tricolor left space for the home team, whether in counterattacks or stealing the ball after a mistake forced by pressure. With this, Zubeldia tried to change the pace of the match with the entry of Kino, Ganso and Hercules, but the team became easy prey for the tri-colored gaucho, who began sending more and more crosses into the penalty area.