PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luiz Araujo and Giorgian de Arrascaeta each scored a goal and Flamengo beat Esperance Sportive de Tunis 2-0 on Monday night in the Club World Cup.
After dominating possession for 17 minutes, de Arrascaeta opened the scoring after finishing off a cross from Araujo.
Araujo capped an amazing performance in the 70th minute by scoring Flamengo’s second goal. This came from an assist by Jorginho, Flamengo’s new signing and former Club World Cup Champion.
The Lincoln Financial Stadium brimmed with energy for the entire 90 minutes thanks to the 25,797 Flamengo and Esperance’s fans present. The attendance was far from the stadium’s 67,594 maximum capacity.
Key Moment
In the 66th minute, Esperance had a chance to tie the score with a counter-attack led by Youcef Belaili, but Agustin Rossi made a crucial save to keep Flamengo in the lead. This allowed Araujo to put the game out of Esperance’s reach four minutes later.
Takeaways
Flamengo could earn a first-place finish in Group D if they continue playing like they did in this one. Esperance’s chances of making it past the group stage diminished a lot with the loss. However, with a win against LAFC and a tie between Chelsea and Flamengo, Esperance could still hope of making it into the elimination round of the Club World Cup.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Mario Rodriguez Canuto, The Associated Press
