Botafogo's rout in the stands and a safe match on the field

Botafogo's greatest virtue is their sense of urgency. It doesn't matter where they are in the standings or what the team is doing. The black and white fans come together when their presence becomes imperative, as happened this Sunday (18), at Maracanã, against Flamengo , in round 9 of the Brazilian Championship. By the way, against the red and blacks, Botafogo always plays as a home team in the Grande Tijuca amphitheater. Another rout in the stands of Massa Compacta and a cut to go viral on social media.

"Theater, theater, theater... Theater fans", sing the chosen ones to the supporters of the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas club.

Botafogo fans don't sing the same song for ten minutes, as this columnist would like. But they do shout the chorus of the songs in their repertoire. It's a loud scolding. At Maracanã, Flamengo, before the ball started rolling, had to play their anthem at maximum volume to drown out the voices representing the Mais Tradicional in the stands of the Mário Filho Stadium. Something, by the way, extremely embarrassing. The loudspeaker tried to cheer up the so-called Nation, but the audience in the amphitheater didn't respond.

When the ball started rolling, the hosts tried to react, but they quickly got tired, as did the red-and-black team, whose territorial dominance did not last 25 minutes. Meanwhile, two thousand black-and-white fans silenced more than 50 thousand spectators, despite all the adversities that marked the preview of the classic. There is nothing new under the sun. And may Botafogo share the South with Flamengo, in the return leg, at the Nilton Santos Stadium.

Paiva's Botafogo improves

The last few matches give the impression that Botafogo is making progress. Five wins, one draw and one defeat. It's a shame that the majority shareholder of SAF do Glorioso, John Textor, set the start of the season for April. A month earlier and this team could be flying by now. However, the Mais Tradicional returned to competition. Against Flamengo, they had more real chances than their opponent to win the game. The detail was missing. The much talked about skill in the final third. The evolution, therefore, is still timid.

Without Savarino and Artur, it was harder to put the ball in the net. Freitas had a clear opportunity and struck with confidence to put the ball in the box. Rossi made one of the best saves of his career. Rwan, in turn, made a huge mistake. And Cuiabano almost scored a great goal with three fingers. Flamengo, in turn, had only one clear chance thanks to a mistake by Jair. A mistake that almost compromised an excellent performance by Botafogo's entire defensive system.

*This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jogada10

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