By Jay Forte, Contributing Report
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Saturday (October 13th) Flamengo beat Fluminense by 3-0 at the Maracanã in a Clássico Carioca, and temporarily assumed the co-leadership spot in round 29 of the 2018 Campeonato Brasileiro, Série A (known as the Brasileirão).
Against Fluminense, the Colombian striker Fernando Uribe scored two goals and after the match told reporters, “I needed a game like that, to gain confidence. Here in Maracanã, with all those fans, I’m very happy to help the team with two goals to come out with the victory.”
By the end of the weekend the Rubro-Negro ended up in third place on the table with 55 points, while the Tricolor fell to 9th with 37 points. Palmeiras currently leads the tournament with 57 points, followed by Internacional with 56 points.
On Sunday (October 14th), Vasco da Gama also beat Cruzeiro 2-0 with the leadership of Maxi López in São Januário Stadium in Rio. The Argentine helped bring the Cruz-Maltino to 13th rank with 34 points. Rio’s other major club Botafogo is currently in 14th place and will play tonight at 8PM against 18th place Ceará.
The Brasileirão will have 38 rounds, and is scheduled to end on December 1, 2018. The Corinthians are the defending champions.
Each year the top five teams, as well as the 2018 Copa do Brasil champions, will qualify to the Copa Libertadores and the last four will be relegated to Série B in 2019.