Tag Futebol

Henry Davids and Faf du Plessis top scored before a complete bowling performance sealed the win

The Report by Firdose Moonda10-Nov-2019After defeating the defending champions in the season opener on Friday night, the Cape Town Blitz were rudely brought back down to earth by their nearest rivals, the Paarl Rocks, on Sunday. The Blitz were dismissed for 84 – the lowest total in the competition’s short history – inside 16 overs, in chase of 171. That meant the Rocks took the early Western Cape derby bragging rights, and sit at the top of the points table.Home-boy gives the home-side a start Henry Davids is the best-known member of the Rocks’ XI that is actually from the area so it was fitting that he gave them what turned into a match-winning start. Davids and Cameron Delport’s opening stand was worth 41 runs in 27 balls and included an impressive assault on Test players Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn. Davids took two fours and a six off Philander’s opening spell while Delport took four fours off Steyn before being dismissed by another international, Anrich Nortje. Davids was then joined by captain Faf du Plessis, with whom he shared a second-wicket stand of 38. Interestingly, both Davids and du Plessis had the joint-top score, also 38.Blitz pull it backThe Rocks raced to 107 for 3 midway through the 10th over before a suicidal attempt at a second run saw Faf du Plessis run out and sparked a collapse. In the next 9.3 overs, Rocks lost seven wickets and scored 63 runs, with George Linde playing a starring role in slowing them down. Linde had Hardus Viljoen stumped for 4, Mangaliso Mosehle trapped lbw attempting a slog-sweep and took the catch at long-off that ended Isuru Udana’s innings, off Anrich Nortje. Both Nortje and Linde claimed three wickets, giving the Blitz a chaseable target.Rocks start with short-ball trapViljoen, who played one Test for South Africa against England before going down the Kolpak route, is known for aggressive, quick bowling and a mean bouncer and he used that to make early inroads into the Blitz’s line-up. Quinton de Kock was caught at backward point, cutting a short, wide ball in Viljoen’s first over and Janneman Malan, after scoring back-to-back boundaries off Viljoen was caught behind attempting a pull off a short ball in his second. You can take the bowler away from the bounce of South African wickets but you can’t take the bounce out of the bowler when he gets back on them, it seems.Blitz spun outAt 56 for 5 at the halfway mark, it looked as though the Blitz were facing an uphill and Tabraiz Shamsi made it even steeper with his spell. He took 3 for 16 in three overs to stamp out all hope the Blitz would have had and to keep his name in the conversation when it comes to the national T20 side. Shamsi took a simple return catch off the second ball he bowled when Mohammad Nawaz chipped the ball back to him, beat Magala outside off to bowl him and had Linde stumped after coming down the track to a delivery that turned across him. The Blitz lost 5 for 27 in 27 balls to hand the Rocks a handsome, 86-run win.

UEFA announced the appointment of German referee Felix Zwayer as the official for England and the Netherlands' semi-final and fans cannot believe it.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Zwayer to referee Netherlands vs England
• Zwayer has a history of match-fixing
• Fans worried as Bellingham criticised the German

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Zwayer has been a UEFA-approved referee since 2004 and has taken charge of three games at Euro 2024 so far, and he will now officiate the semi-final in Dortmund. However, the trouble started when fans realised Zwayer was the same referee Jude Bellingham had criticised during his time at Borussia Dortmund and questioned the German referee's past with match-fixing. England fans are now concerned that Zwayer and Bellingham's past confrontations may cause the refereeing in the game to be biased towards Ronald Koeman's side during the crucial semi-final.

Advertisement

• WHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING

  Viaplay journalist @JanAageFjortoft wrote on X: "I am not sure what UEFA are thinking by putting Zwayer at the England game. Back in 2021, Bellingham told me this after the game. And was fined €40,000 by German football officials"

  England fan @lovebellingham wrote: "Really don’t understand why they would have Zwayer ref the England game. Especially when everyone knows what happened between him and Jude when he was at Dortmund lmao this is stupid"

  X user @AlanRzepa said: "Baffled as to why he’s allowed to officiate at the top level if he was found guilty of match-fixing"

  @lulu11_lu posted on X: "Again someone who has match fixed before should never referee again especially BIG matches like have you gone mad, UEFA. You don’t have any other less shitty German referees than Felix Zwayer???"

  England fan @ydayda11 blamed UEFA: "Assigned a known match fixer aka Felix Zwayer to the semifinal England vs. Netherlands. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!! There’s an obvious conflict of interest: one English player called him out on this in 2021! You’re trying to make sure England go home! DISGUSTING"

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  In 2005, the German became embroiled in a match-fixing controversy in which Zwayer acknowledged accepting money from Robert Hoyzer, a banned referee who was charged with match-fixing but not with changing the result of a game. Zwayer was banned for six months as soon as this was discovered. Zwayer took a two-month hiatus from officiating in December 2021 in response to remarks made by Bellingham after Borussia Dortmund lost 3-2 to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• WHAT NEXT FOR ZWAYER?

  The German has become one of the best referees in Europe since that incident and has overseen a number of crucial clashes. He will likely approach the semi-final as a normal game, however, a rise in temperature may see the German called into question.

تحدث حسام حسن، المدير الفني لمنتخب مصر، عن مواجهة موريتانيا، في التصفيات المؤهلة لـ كأس أمم إفريقيا 2025.

ويلتقي منتخب مصر مع موريتانيا مساء غد الجمعة 11 أكتوبر، ضمن مباريات الجولة الثالثة للمجموعة الثالثة من تصفيات كأس أمم إفريقيا 2025.

وقال حسام حسن، في المؤتمر الصحفي الخاص بالمباراة: “سنلعب ضد منتخب قوي من الناحية البدنية والفنية، موريتانيا والرأس الأخضر من أفضل الفرق الإفريقية في الفترات الأخيرة”.

وتابع: “مجموعتنا هي الأقوى في تصفيات كأس أمم إفريقيا وأتمنى من البرامج الرياضية أن تنتبه إلى حديثها، حيث يقولون إننا لا نواجه فرقًا قوية، وأننا سنصل إلى كأس الأمم وكأس العالم لأننا نلعب ضد منتخبات ضعيفة، هذا الكلام يؤثر نفسيًا ومعنويًا على اللاعبين، فنحن نريد أن نتعامل مع المنتخب المصري باحترافية كما نتعامل مع الأندية”.

طالع..دونجا يعلن حجم إصابته مع منتخب مصر وموقفه من مباراة موريتانيا الثانية

وأضاف: “أرى البعض يقولون إننا سنلعب ضد جورماهيا والشرطة، ويعتبرون هذه مواجهات متوازنة، دعونا نقارن بين المحترفين لدينا والمحترفين في المنتخبات الأخرى، فالمقارنة لن تكون في صالحنا، لدينا تقريبًا 3 لاعبين محترفين في أوروبا، على عكس الأندية في إفريقيا، حيث تلعب الأندية المصرية بعناصر كلها دولية”.

وواصل: “يسألني البعض عن سبب اختيار لاعب بدلًا من الآخر، أتمنى أن تتم معاملتي كأنني مدرب أجنبي، فالمدرب الأجنبي لا يُسأل هذه الأسئلة، أنا أختار العناصر بناءً على وجهة نظري الفنية، أحتاج مثلاً مدافعًا قويًا يجيد الالتحام، وهكذا”.

واستمر: “لست شخصًا يبحث عن التريند، ولا يوجد شيء يمكن أن يضيف لاسم حسام وإبراهيم، أنا هنا بتكليف من الشعب وأصحاب القرار، نحن نعمل من أجل مصر، لدينا احتلال أجنبي للمدربين في مصر”.

وأكمل: “كل اللاعبين متاحين أمامي، حسام عبد المجيد وعمر فايد مهتم بهما، وكل المباريات القادمة خارج ملعبنا، الأهم أنني لا أخسر فيها، هذه سياستي، ولا أحد يقول لي لماذا لم تفز خارج ملعبك”.

واسترسل: “هل تستهينون بإثيوبيا التي تلعب معنا في تصفيات كأس العالم؟، والرأس الأخضر وبوركينا وموريتانيا منتخبات قوية جدًا”.

وأردف: “ليس معنى أننا نحقق الفوز أنهم ضعفاء، بل أنت من جعلتهم يبدو ضعفاء، حسام وإبراهيم لا يملان”.

واستطرد: “نتمنى التخلص من الوجوه القديمة التي كانت تتولى مناصب في الرياضة في مصر، لا تعيدوا الذين فشلوا في بطولة إفريقيا 2019 هنا في مصر”.

واستكمل: “أنا مقتنع باللاعبين وهم مقتنعون بي، لكن الروح دون تنظيم لا تنفع، والشغل الفني دون روح لا ينفع أيضًا، تريزيجيه، مثلاً، كان مصممًا على التواجد في أول معسكر رغم الإصابة”.

وقال: “ترتيب المنتخبات مهم جدًا، انطروا إلى تطور المغرب فهو منتخب يستحق أن يكون الأول في إفريقيا، وإذا لم نكن قبل المغرب، فسنكون بعدهم مباشرة”. 

وأتم: “المراكز التي أواجه بها مشاكل؟ أنا مدرب منتخب مصر، ولا يمكن أن يكون لدي عجز في أي مركز وأنا مسؤول عن المنتخب، لكن، انظروا إلى مشاكل الأهلي والزمالك، جلبوا لاعبين في في اليمين واليسار، وشاهدوا كيف وظف الأهلي كريم فؤاد في مركز الظهير الأيسر”.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Athletico Paranaense tem caminho livre para fechar a contratação de Matheus Babi após a desistência do Fluminense. Depois da aprovação do próprio jogador e do Serra Macaense, dono dos direitos federativos do atleta, o Furacão ainda precisa chegar a um consenso com o Botafogo, clube o qual o atacante está emprestado até dezembro. O LANCE! explica.

A equipe paranaense ofereceu 1,2 milhões de euros (R$ 8 milhões, na cotação atual) por 60% dos direitos econômicos do jogador. Este dinheiro será totalmente para o Serra Macaense. Existirá uma outra negociação para que o Athletico chegue a um acordo com o Botafogo, que atualmente possui 40% de taxa de vitrine do camisa 11.

Este, inclusive, foi um dos motivos pelo qual a negociação com o Fluminense não andou. O Serra Macaense e o jogador gostaram da proposta do Tricolor, mas o clube das Laranjeiras ofereceu uma lista de jogadores ao Botafogo tentando diminuir a pedida desta taxa de vitrine. Apesar de ter acenado positivamente no começo, o Alvinegro recuou pela repercussão negativa.

RelacionadasFutebol NacionalFluminense recua na contratação de Matheus Babi, do Botafogo; Athletico tem ‘caminho livre’Futebol Nacional05/04/2021BotafogoBotafogo negocia o empréstimo de Alexander Lecaros ao AvaíBotafogo05/04/2021BotafogoBotafogo afirma que vai reavaliar continuidade de esportes que não sejam autossustentáveisBotafogo05/04/2021

Agora, o Athletico precisa chegar a um acordo com o Botafogo. A negociação entre os dois clubes gira em torno de R$ 2 a R$ 3 milhões e o Furacão também pode ceder 10% dos direitos econômicos ao Alvinegro, que teria este direito em uma venda futura.

Ou seja, o Athletico gastaria, no total, pouco mais de R$ 10 milhões para contratar Matheus Babi, contando a parte do Serra Macaense e a negociação pela taxa de vitrine com o Botafogo. Há um interesse mútuo para que a negociação seja resolvida o mais rápido possível.

A saída de Matheus Babi, portanto, está totalmente dependente do acordo com o Botafogo, já que o Serra Macaense já deu o “ok” e o jogador também gostou das condições do Furacão.

Derbyshire survived a last-day scare to deny Middlesex an improbable victory in their County Championship Division Two match at Derby.After Dawid Malan’s 199 and John Simpson’s 115 had taken Middlesex to 520, Derbyshire were wobbling at 39 for 4, only 76 runs in front.But South African batsman Leus du Plooy followed his first-innings century with an unbeaten 64 and 61 from Harvey Hosein took the home side to 178 for 6, a lead of 215, when the teams shook hands on a draw.That was the most likely outcome at the start of the day as Malan and Simpson took their stand to 224, one short of the seventh-wicket record by any county against Derbyshire, before the Middlesex skipper pushed a return catch to Matt Critchley. He had batted just over eight-and-a-half hours, passing his career-best 182 not out, and was the 68th batsman in the history of the game to be out 199.With Fynn Hudson-Prentice falling one short of a hundred for Derbyshire, it was the only time in a first-class game in England that batsmen have scored 99 and 199.Simpson’s century and his stand with Malan was more significant for Middlesex, who had gone from a position where defeat was very much a possibility, to one where they could put Derbyshire under pressure.Billy Godleman and Luis Reece negotiated four overs before lunch while extending the lead but the position changed dramatically after the interval as four wickets fell for 16 runs. Godleman’s tentative push at Tom Helm resulted in an edge to Simpson and Hudson-Prentice was run out in the next over when he was sent back and failed to beat the throw from midwicket.Reece missed a sweep at Nathan Sowter and Alex Hughes bagged a pair when the leg-spinner found his outside edge to leave Derbyshire in trouble on 39 for 4.The advantage was only just past 100 when du Plooy edged Toby Roland-Jones but Sam Robson, stationed at a wide first slip, was unable to hold on.Middlesex employed spin at both ends but the runs began to come more freely and by tea Derbyshire were 163 ahead with overs running out.Sowter had Hosein lbw pushing forward and Malan beat Critchley’s defensive prod but the lead was now over 200 and it was no surprise when the draw was agreed with 20 overs remaining.

Alisha Lehmann shared a message on social media as she thanked Aston Villa fans for their unconditional support.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Lehmann shared a message for fansThanked supporters for their constant supportAston Villa finished seventh in the WSLWHAT HAPPENED?

The Villans star took to Instagram to share a thank you note for the club's fans who have shown their support for the team in a season which was full of 'highs and downs'. Aston Villa played their final game of the season on Saturday as they went down 2-1 against giants Manchester City in the WSL at home.

AdvertisementWHAT ALISHA LEHMANN SAID

Thanking the fans on the social media platform, Lehmann wrote, "A season with a lot of highs and downs, we keep learning and continue the hard work. Thank you all for the support always, we will be back."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The 25-year-old midfielder appeared in 21 matches across all competitions including 15 in the WSL. She scored twice in the league this season and four times overall as the Birmingham-based club finished seventh on the league table with 24 points from 22 games.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR ALISHA LEHMANN?

The Switzerland international will be next seen in action for her country as they take on Hungary on May 31 and June 6 respectively in qualifiers for Euro 2025.

The Ange Postecoglou era at Spurs began with a seismic departure as Harry Kane left to join Bayern Munich for a whopping £100m. Given that Kane had scored 32 goals in his final season, around 39% of Spurs' total in all competitions, it was fair to be concerned about the loss of firepower, particularly after the Lilywhites elected not to sign a specialist senior replacement.

But up to this point, it's hard to argue that Kane has been an especially big miss. Spurs rank fourth in the Premier League for goals per 90 minutes (1.95), and rather than suffering from a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, they've actually been the second most clinical team in the division with an xG overperformance of 4.6. Only reigning champions Manchester City (7.3) can better that.

Still, a long-term Kane replacement looks to be on the agenda for Postecoglou in 2024, and Dominic Solanke has emerged as a target. Football Insider recently reported that both Spurs and their north London rivals Arsenal are "keen" on a deal, and now there's been a new update.

Spurs learn Solanke price tag

The same outlet now states that Solanke "will cost more than £50m" if he leaves the Vitality Stadium this summer. That price tag is based on his output this season and his homegrown status, which makes him an especially valuable commodity.

Newcastle are also said to be interested, with Andoni Iraola's side "bracing for offers" for their frontman ahead of the summer. It now remains to be seen whether Spurs launch a bid in the hope of winning the battle.

Solanke a "dream" for Postecoglou

Solanke, who's the reigning Premier League Player of the Month after winning the December prize, has scored 12 top-flight goals this season, matching Spurs' Son Heung-min. Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and last year's record-breaking Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland (both 14) have found the net more often.

The 26-year-old has achieved that feat from an xG of 11.0, the third-highest in the league and a reflection of both the quality of his movement and the sustainability of his strike rate. He's only needed one penalty to get to 12 too.

Dominic Solanke

Stat

Son Heung-min

12

Goals

12

65

Shots

51

11.0

xG

7.1

7

Big chances missed

3

But importantly, there's more to his game than goalscoring. Gary O'Neil, his manager at Bournemouth last season, called him a "dream" option because "he literally does everything he can" to help the team, whether it's pressing or additional work in possession. O'Neil went as far as to dub him "the hardest working centre-forward" he's ever seen.

The stats show what he's talking about. Compared to forwards in similar leagues over the past year, Solanke ranks in the 80th percentile for blocks per 90, and up in the 94th for defensive actions leading to shots. This will particularly intrigue Postecoglou, who has placed a big emphasis on winning the ball high up the pitch. Spurs allow the second-fewest passes per defensive action (9.5) of any team after Liverpool (2.3), and they've recorded more high turnovers (214) than any team.

Solanke is also capable of picking up the ball in deeper areas and driving forward – he occupies the 74th percentile for progressive carrying distance and the 82nd for carries into the penalty area. It's a comprehensive all-round package that certainly looks worth the £50m outlay, but the extent of the competition isn't surprising either.

Sunrisers Hyderabad had left out the out-of-form Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey for the match against Delhi Capitals

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-20193:40

Murali Kartik: Winners have parties, losers have meetings

Kane Williamson’s return to fitness, and the lack of form of the middle-order batsmen, forced Sunrisers Hyderabad to make a raft of changes for their Sunday night exchange with Delhi Capitals, and David Warner feels that made a difference to end result – Capitals winning by 39 runs after Sunrisers went from 101 for 2 to 116 all out.”I don’t like hindsight. Today, there was a decision that they [the team management] made – I’m no longer part of that process, I don’t know what their thinking was – but when you lose that experience in the middle, it can be quite challenging and quite difficult for the new guys that come in,” Warner said of the call to leave out Mohammad Nabi, Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey to fit in Williamson, Ricky Bhui and Abhishek Sharma.Of those dropped, while Nabi had been impressive with the ball when given a chance, Pathan (32 runs in five innings with a strike rate of 86.48) and Pandey (54 runs in five innings, strike rate 93.10) had been struggling to score runs.

When you lose that experience in the middle, it can be quite challenging and quite difficult for the new guys that come inDAVID WARNER

That must have forced the team management’s hand, but the three men brought in scored a total of 12 runs in 23 balls on the day, failing to give the innings the solidity it needed in the middle overs after Warner (51 off 47) and Jonny Bairstow (41 off 31) had given them another great start.”But there is no excuses – we got off to a good start, we didn’t capitalise on those middle periods, there were a lot of ones, not many twos, they [Capitals] shut down the boundaries well and they bowled very well,” Warner said. “We just missed a couple of opportunities to hit boundaries through that middle period.”Sunrisers, after winning three of their first four games, have now lost three in a row to slip to sixth place on the points table, only above Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore.David Warner punches down the ground•BCCI”We got off to a good start, again, without losing a wicket. You look at the overs between seven and 13, we had a fair few dots, we didn’t find too many boundaries, and from that position we were in, you should be chasing … I think it was ten an over, 11 an over towards the back end,” Warner elaborated.”I think we probably didn’t utilise those middle periods as well as we’d like. We’re generally pretty good running between the wickets, but we failed to just hit that boundary. And again, we lost wickets after a start, which is disappointing.”I take responsibility as well, as an in batsman, you try and be there at the end. Unfortunate that that’s the way I play, I tried to look for a boundary but I was unlucky,” he said of holing out off Kagiso Rabada at mid-off in the 17th over.Colin Munro, the Capitals batsman who hit a 24-ball 40 earlier in the evening, credited his team’s bowlers – Rabada, Chris Morris and Keemo Paul picked up all ten wickets between them – for giving them a win that seemed unlikely while Warner and Bairstow were in the middle.”They obviously got off to a good start, but we knew if we stayed in the game and we stayed in the contest for every ball, it was going to go down to the wire, and we got those breakthroughs and those wickets at crucial stages,” Munro said. “They got away from us in terms of the [required] run rate, so credit to our bowlers, how we fought every single ball and stayed in the contest.”The win took Capitals to ten points from eight games and the No. 2 spot on the points table, only behind Chennai Super Kings, who are well ahead on 14 points from the same number of games.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s tally of 521 runs in the four Tests in Australia, his best-ever returns on an overseas tour, has vaulted him to third spot in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen. His runs were crucial in India’s historic 2-1 series win that extended their run at the top of the team standings, while Australia remained fifth despite losing a point.Pujara struck his overseas best of 193 in the drawn fourth Test in Sydney, to follow centuries in Adelaide and Melbourne, and was named Player of the Series. Elsewhere, Rishabh Pant, who also brought up his best Test score of 159 not out in Sydney, was another big gainer, jumping 21 spots to vault into the top 20. No Indian wicketkeeper has been ranked higher in the batting rankings than Pant, who now sits at No. 17.Pant’s aggregate of 673 points are the highest-ever by an Indian wicketkeeper. MS Dhoni, who retired from Tests in December 2014, held the previous highest rating points (662), and his highest ranking was No. 19. Pant was India’s second-highest run scorer in the series with 350 runs. In addition, he also collected 20 dismissals.In the first Test in Adelaide, Pant took 11 catches to equal the world record for most catches by a wicketkeeper in a Test. He eclipsed the all-time India record of 10 catches by Wriddhiman Saha, and drew level with England wicketkeeper Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja gained one place to be listed fifth among bowlers, even as he surpassed West Indies captain Jason Holder to climb to second place among allrounders. Jadeja played only the final two Tests, picking seven wickets in addition to a counter-attacking half-century in Sydney.A few South Africa players also moved up the rankings table, having taken an unassailable lead in the three-match series, with victories in the first two Tests in Centurion and Cape Town. Opening batsman Aiden Markram moved back into the top 10 after scoring 78 in South Africa’ eight-wicket win over Pakistan in the Cape Town Test. He slotted in at No. 10, while team-mate Temba Bavuma moved into the top 30 for the first time.Among the bowlers, Vernon Philander has gained one position to reach third place while Duanne Olivier, who picked 16 wickets in two Tests, continued his surge to move up to 32nd place from 36th.

MatériaMais Notícias

Arrascaeta foi curto e grosso na saída do Fla-Flu da última quarta-feira, em entrevista à “Rede Globo”: “Não merece ser campeão”. A fala do uruguaio simboliza e escancara que a derrota de virada para o Fluminense, por 2 a 1, vai além dos três pontos perdidos na briga pelo título brasileiro e dos 45 minutos desastrosos no segundo tempo, quando o Tricolor marcou os gols.

RelacionadasFutebol NacionalSão Paulo e Flamengo vacilam; Fluminense reage, Goiás sonha… Confira a classificação do BrasileiroFutebol Nacional06/01/2021FluminenseFilipe Luís reclama e Caio Paulista responde: ‘Perderam porque você errou, não porque fiquei caído’Fluminense06/01/2021FlamengoCeni analisa derrota do Flamengo: ‘Os erros que cometemos são grotescos para um time que quer ser campeão’Flamengo06/01/2021

O desabafo do uruguaio vai ao encontro de atuações inconsistentes de um time que não tem apresentado repertório capaz de permear cenários distintos ao longo dos jogos e ser imponente com organização. O segundo tempo contra o Fluminense, por exemplo, acentuou as recorrentes mexidas improdutivas deRogério Ceni – como recuar Willian Arão para a zaga.

E dá para dizer que a desorganização no decorrer dos jogos foi uma tônica dos dois últimos tropeços do Flamengo, mesmo com semanas cheias para treinar, o que é alarmante e não condiz com os méritos necessários por uma taça que coroa a regularidade.

O trabalho de Ceni, hoje, reflete mais pontos negativos do que positivos. Se por um lado o time consegue ter volume de jogo no campo adversário e criar chances forçando erro dos rivais, por outro, não sê constância e efetividade nos dois tempos de jogo. Outro ponto que nada contra a maré é o de insistentes falhas do sistema defensivo, independente de erros individuais, pesados significativamente na balança pelo treinador:

-Tivemos ótimas chance de ampliar, e o Fluminense veio para jogar bola na área de qualquer lugar, e assim conseguiu o primeiro gol, em uma falta. Sofrendo gols dessa maneira fica difícil, realmente.Tivemos falhas grandes no jogo, e por isso perdemos. De resto, posse, finalizações… fora isso não tenho como explicar – salientou Ceni, em entrevista coletiva.

OUTROS ALARMES

Ontem, apesar de ter finalizado 19 vezes e ter trocado673 passes (com precisão de86%, segundo dados do “Sofascore”), o Flamengo demonstrou linhas descompactadas, um time exposto e que ainda está distante de ter uma saída de bola à altura da qualidade de seu plantel. Contra o Fortaleza, mesmo num ritmo ainda mais lento, o panorama foi parecido.

Vai ser necessário Ceni driblar a pressão e os números ruins (aproveitamento de 48.5% e apenas quatro vitórias em 11 jogos) para mostrar que o seu dedo é compatível com a missão de, primeiro, evoluir com as fragilidades afloradas e, depois (aproveitando a fala de Arrascaeta), fazer por merecer o título, uma vez que osalarmes vistos contra o Flu estão longe de ser pontuais. Vão além.

O PRÓXIMO JOGO

Agora, o Flamengo volta a campo neste domingo, dia 10 de janeiro. Pela 29ª rodada do Brasileirão, o Rubro-Negro recebe o Ceará no Maracanã, às 16h.

> Confira e simule a tabela do Campeonato Brasileiro

Com 49 pontos, o time de Ceni segue a sete pontos de distância do líder São Paulo, que perdeu para o Red Bull Bragantino nesta quarta e está com 56 pontos. O Atlético-MG, que também tem 49, não atuará neste meio de semana.