Chapecoense-sc beat Fluminense with 30% of the ball and few chances

Yannick Bolasie's early goal and Giovanni Augusto's second-half strike gave the hosts a 2-1 win from far less of the ball than usual.

Yannick Bolasie put Chapecoense-sc ahead in the ninth minute, and from then on the match was about whether the hosts could hold a lead while Fluminense kept the ball. They did, winning 2-1 at the Arena Condá, though the way they got there was unusual.

Fluminense had 70% of the possession, well above the 56.3% they average when they play away. Chapecoense-sc had 30%, against the 44.9% they usually see at home. Fluminense completed 463 of their 501 passes, which is a lot of neat football, but holding the ball does not decide who created the better chances.

On chances, the picture changes. Fluminense had six shots, five of them from inside the box, yet their expected goals, a measure of how good the chances were based on how often similar chances go in, came to 0.69. That is below the 1.23 they average away from home. Chapecoense-sc managed only four shots, and their 0.55 expected goals sits under the 1.13 they usually produce at home.

Goals arrived in the ninth, thirtieth and fifty-sixth minutes. Claudio Rodrigues Gomes levelled for Fluminense after Bolasie's opener, and Giovanni Augusto restored the home lead, after Tulio Eduardo Silva De Oliveira had helped set it up. Giovanni Augusto had also set up the first goal, so he was involved in both sides of the scoring. The Chapecoense-sc goalkeeper made three saves, against one at the other end, so the home side had more to keep out.

Neither side was reduced to ten men. Chapecoense-sc picked up two yellow cards, through Camilo Reijers de Oliveira and Yago Felipe, while Fluminense received one, shown to Guilherme Arana late in the match. Both teams finished with the same number of players they started with.

Chapecoense-sc sit 20th in the table with 18 points from 30 matches, while Fluminense are fifth with 51 from 31. Those positions made this a meeting of a side fighting near the bottom and one with a far more settled season behind it.

The win was no small step for Chapecoense-sc, who had taken just one victory from their previous six matches. Fluminense had won three of theirs in the same span. Chapecoense-sc have conceded 62 goals this season.

Player of the matchGuga1 goal7.8

Hércules2 chances created7.1

Riquelme2 chances created7.0

L. Acosta1 shot on target6.9