NEW JERSEY: Juan Freytes put Fluminense in front in the 83rd minute and Keno’s second half stoppage time header sealed a 4-2 victory over UIsan HD in an engrossing Group F contest in East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday evening.
Freytes’ winner — his first goal for the Brazilian club — came 17 minutes after teammate Nonato leveled during a contest where the lead twice changed hands.
John Arias also scored from an early free kick as Fluminense (1-0-1, 4 points) moved even on points and goal difference with Dortmund (1-0-1, 4 points) at the FIFA Club World Cup, ahead of their group finale against Malmelodi Sundowns (1-1-0, 3 points) on Wednesday.
Jinhyun Lee and Um Won-Sang scored for Ulsan (0-2-0, 0 points), which was eliminated with the result.
Freytes put Fluminense in front for good after the South Koreans failed to clear a corner, dispatching a composed finish inside the right post after receiving German Cano’s tidy pass.
Nine minutes later, Keno’s header of Arias’ cross against a clearly fatigued Ulsan defense sealed the victory.
Ulsan struck twice inside the final 10 minutes of the first half to turn an early deficit into a halftime lead before Fluminense leveled at 2-all through Nonato in the 66th minute.
After a flowing move from the Brazilians, Keno’s cross from the left was only partially cleared, and Nonato delivered a composed finish inside the right post from about 15 yards out.
Late in the first half, Lee leveled for Ulsan in the 37th minute on an exceptional counter attack. Darijan Bojanic’s initial pass from just beyond his own box sprung Won-Sang down the right. Won Sang’s low cross rolled all the way across the box and beyond goalkeeper Fabio’s dive before Lee met it on the opposite flank. From a tight angle, Lee delivered an excellent first-touch finish into an open goal.
Meanwhile, River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo was confident he could still field a team capable of defeating Inter Milan in his side’s final Group E game despite losing several players due to suspension.
Gallardo saw Kevin Castano sent off in the latter stages of the 0-0 draw at the Rose Bowl with Monterrey, while yellow cards for Enzo Perez and Giuliano Galoppo mean the pair will also miss the meeting with the Italians on Wednesday in Seattle.
River Plate are one of South America’s most successful clubs, winning the Copa Libertadores on four occasions as well as the Intercontinental Cup in 1986.
Their draw with Monterrey means the Argentinians are level on four points with Inter Milan in Group E. The two teams are due to face off in their final group game on Wednesday.
Monterrey are third in the standings, two points behind Inter and River Plate, and a win over already-eliminated Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan could see the Mexican side climb into the qualification berths for the knockout rounds.
River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo said: “We have some players that we’re going to be missing. We, of course, had some yellow cards and there are several players who won’t be able to play in the next game, so we will have to see how we organize that.
“But I see the glass as half full because, if you look at the scores, every club, every team has had its problems. It was hard for Inter to win, it was hard for Monterrey too, so for our third game we’re going to go with the best we have and we’re going to be optimistic.
