Marcos Paulo was the star of the day as Fluminense claimed a 3-1 victory over Athlético-PR at Maracanã on Saturday night.
It was his best outing of the campaign so far and could as well be one of the best in his career so far.
The teenager was the shining light for Fluminense all game and hand a hand in all the three goals that led to their victory. He bagged a brace in the second half and was the one who also gave the assist to Nenê who opened the scoring in the first half. Leo Cittadini grabbed what was a consolation goal for Athletico.
Athletico were second best all game but the red card to Thiago Heleno in the 36th minute only made matters worse for them. Fluminense made sure to capitalize on that.
Elsewhere, there was relief for Nenê who finally grabbed a goal after a drought that lasted almost two months. He last bagged a goal on October 11 and it came against Bahia. He could easily have bagged two but for his initial penalty miss in the 14th minute.
The win takes Fluminense back to the top four of the Brazilian Championship as they are now up to 39 points. They are now ahead of Palmeiras and Santos who played out to a stalemate in Vila Belmiro. Although, Fluminense can still drop below Internacional who are yet to face Atletico-MG. Athletico-PR have now suffered their second consecutive loss in the competition.
For their next league outing, Athletico-PR will take on Atlético-MG next Saturday while Fluminense travel to São Januário the next day to take on a struggling Vasco side.
