By Robbie Blakeley, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Flamengo beat Corinthians 1-0 yesterday afternoon at the Maracanã to move eight points clear of the relegation zone in the 2014 Campeonato Brasileiro. Wallace scored the only goal of the game just after the hour mark, but there was a suspicion of offside about the goal, leading to furious protests from the Corinthians players.
The meeting between Brazil’s biggest two clubs is always watched with keen interest. However, yesterday’s clash took a while to warm up after a cautious first half which saw the game bogged down in midfield.
Corinthians boss Mano Menezes withdrew holding midfielder Ralf to try at add some velocity to the middle. The visitors almost opened the scoring after the interval following some neat build-up play between Luciano and Guerrero.
Then, on 64 minutes, Fla scored the game’s only goal. Eduardo da Silva, who was in an offside position, controlled the ball and teed up Wallace, who rifled the ball into the roof of the net. The home side were also awarded a controversial penalty when the ball struck Fágner’s arm inside the area. Hoever, Eduardo saw his spot-kick saved by Cássio and the game ended 1-0.
In Porto Alegre, Botafogo lost their third successive Brasileirão match after going down 2-0 to Internacional. Goals from Alex and Eduardo Sasha gave the Gaúcho club the three points following a turbulent week, whilst the Glorioso remain periolusly close to the relegation zone.
All three Carioca clubs are back in Série A action on Wednesday night. Fluminense and Flamengo travel to Vitória and Palmeiras respectively, and Botafogo face a crunch test at home to Bahia, currently sitting next to bottom in the table.
Campeonato Brasileiro Round 21 Results in Full:
Fluminense 3-0 Palmeiras
Chapecoense 3-1 Sport Recife
Santos 2-1 Coritiba
Flamengo 1-0 Corinthians
São Paulo 2-0 Cruzeiro
Bahia 3-0 Figueirense
Internacional 2-0 Botafogo
Atlético-PR 2-0 Vitória
Atlético-MG 0-0 Grêmio
Criciúma 1-0 Goiás
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