How it happened
Agustín Rossi was the difference between a goalless draw and a defeat for Flamengo. Estudiantes de La Plata sent in 21 shots, six of them on target, and the Flamengo goalkeeper saved all six. He finished with a match rating of 8.0.
There were no goals, in either half. It was goalless at the interval and stayed that way through 95 minutes, with no red cards to disturb the flow. Estudiantes won six corners to Flamengo's four and never found the breakthrough their volume of attempts suggested.
Flamengo offered almost nothing in reply. They managed five shots and none of them tested Estudiantes' goalkeeper.
The numbers
The expected-goals figures back up the shot count. Estudiantes created 1.09 xG against 0.16 for Flamengo, so the home side generated roughly seven times the quality of chance. A goalless score from 1.09 xG is not a freak: it is about one goal's worth of chances left unconverted.
Flamengo did hold more of the ball, with 55% possession to 45%, but it brought little end product.
Two defenders shared the best match rating on the pitch. Alex Sandro, for Flamengo, and Santiago Núñez, for Estudiantes, both scored 8.2. Alex Sandro had 79 touches and Núñez 58, and Núñez's own expected goals came to 0.15. Rossi's 8.0 was the next best.
What it means
Both sides have met four times in the past, and this goalless draw does not change a record that stood at two wins for Flamengo, one for Estudiantes and one draw. Those meetings averaged 1.75 goals, so a blank score sheet was the lowest-scoring of the lot.
Flamengo arrived with seven wins, three draws and no defeats in their last 10, scoring 16 and conceding five. Estudiantes' last 10 brought three wins, four draws and three defeats, with 10 goals scored and nine conceded. On this night, the side with the weaker run produced far more, while the side with the stronger run relied on its goalkeeper.