Neymar returns: Santos held 0-0 by Fluminense, still near drop zone | OneFootball

Santos drew 0-0 with Fluminense this Sunday at Vila Belmiro, in the 22nd round of the Brazilian Championship. The match marked Neymar's return to the team after he missed some training sessions due to an unspecified physical problem that also kept him out of the Brazilian National Team's call-up for the last two South American Qualifiers matches.

Throughout the game, Santos had two goals disallowed, one by Guilherme in the first half and another in the last minute of the second half, scored by Tiquinho Soares. With the result, Santos remains close to the relegation zone but does not have a mathematical chance of entering the bottom four because Vitória has three fewer victories than the alvinegro team.

Santos will only return to the field on September 14, at 4 pm (Brasília time), against Atlético-MG, away from home, for the Brasileirão. Meanwhile, Fluminense will face Bahia on September 10, at 7 pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã, for the return of the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil.

Santos has goal disallowed

The first half did not have many thrills at Vila Belmiro. Santos even managed to find the net at 13 minutes with Guilherme, who executed a beautiful individual play, dribbling the goalkeeper and completing the goal, but the referee called offside.

Fluminense, on the other hand, had its best chance with a low cross to Santi Moreno, intercepted at the last moment by Zé Ivaldo, who had to make a crucial slide tackle to prevent what would have been the first goal of the match.

Neymar, who returned to the team after recovering from an unspecified physical problem, had a subdued performance, struggling to get past Fluminense's strong marking throughout the first half.

More exciting second half

If the first half was marked by few emotions, the second half told a different story. In the opening minutes, Santos went on the attack against Fluminense and nearly opened the scoring with Rollheiser, who received a pass from Neymar in a rehearsed corner play and shot first-time into the corner, forcing a great save from Fábio.

Later, from another corner kick, Zé Ivaldo headed to the far post, the ball crossed the area and fell to Guilherme, who also headed it, sending it close to goalkeeper Fábio's post.

Santos' dominance in the second half continued and was almost converted into a goal at 31 minutes when Neymar made a good play and passed to Rollheiser, who cleared the marking and shot into the corner, seeing Fábio make a good save.

In the dying moments, Santos managed to find the net with Tiquinho Soares heading in a free-kick, but the referee called offside, spoiling what would have been a great celebration for the home team, who had to settle for a goalless draw at Vila Belmiro.

MATCH DETAILS SANTOS 0 X 0 FLUMINENSE

Location: Vila Belmiro, in Santos (SP) Date: August 31, 2025, Sunday Time: 4 pm (Brasília time) Referee: Wilton Pereira Sampaio (GO) Assistants: Bruno Raphael Pires (GO) and Leone Carvalho Rocha (GO) VAR: Emerson de Almeira Ferreira (MG)

Yellow cards: Martinelli, Santi Moreno, Kevin Serna (Fluminense); Escobar, Rollheiser (Santos)

SANTOS: Brazão; Mayke (Igor Vinícius), Luan Peres, Zé Ivaldo and Escobar; Tomás Rincón (João Schmidt), Zé Rafael, Rollheiser (Barreal) and Caballero (Deivid Washington); Neymar and Guilherme (Tiquinho Soares). Coach: Juan Pablo Vojvoda.

FLUMINENSE: Fábio; Guga, Thiago Silva, Freytes and Renê; Martinelli (Otávio), Hércules (Thiago Santos), Lucho Acosta (Ganso); Santi Moreno (Soteldo), Kevin Serna and Germán Cano (Igor Rabello). Coach: Renato Gaúcho.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.