Fluminense held on to draw 1:1 with Independiente Rivadavia in the Round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores on Tuesday, then survived a tense penalty shootout to advance. The match at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas ended level after extra time, with the visitors prevailing 4-3 on spot-kicks. It was a night of tension from the first whistle, and by then the stakes could not have been higher for either side.
Independiente Rivadavia took the lead in the 75th minute through K. Serna, a moment that shifted the balance of the game. Fluminense levelled just before the end of normal time when A. Arce converted a penalty in the 90+7th minute. The hosts had been reduced to ten men earlier, with A. Canobbio shown a straight red card in the 57th minute after picking up two bookings in five minutes.
The yellow cards accumulated throughout, with Hercules, S. Studer, L. Bucca, Hulk, Y. Soteldo, A. Arce, and R. Castillo all cautioned. Canobbio's dismissal came as a surprise given his importance to the away side's structure, and it left Fluminense to work with ten men for nearly forty minutes. The home side pressed hard after the red card but could not find a second goal.
Independiente created more chances, registering 118 attacks and 7 shots on target, but their expected goals of 1.52 did not translate into a clear advantage. Fluminense, despite fewer attacks at 73 and only 4 shots on target, held firm with an expected goals figure of 0.98. The visitors managed to keep their heads when it mattered most, and the game slipped through their fingers at the other end.
Extra time produced no further goals, sending the tie to penalties where both sides traded nervously. Fluminense won 4-3 after L. Acosta and J. I. Florentin Bobadilla missed for the hosts, while Guga's late miss for the visitors did not matter. The away side had opened talks about rotation before the match, but the cup football has its own rules, and tonight they saw it out.
The result moves Fluminense into the quarter-finals, where they will face the winner of the other tie. Independiente Rivadavia, sitting top of the table with 16 points from 6 games, ended a barren spell of European disappointment. The hosts had won their last five league matches but could not complete the job here.