Flamengo's first victory in the Brazilian Under-17 Championship did not happen because of a non-existent penalty, awarded to Vasco at the end of the match. Rubro-Negro took the lead, with João Vitor Couto, still in the first half, and had a player sent off before the break. With one less player for the entire second half, the team maintained the advantage until the 50th minute, when the opponent equalized 1-1. The duel, valid for the fifth round of the competition, was played this Tuesday (23), at the Nivaldo Pereira Stadium, in Nova Iguaçu.

Now, Flamengo has two points in five games in the Brazilian Under-17 Championship. It is worth noting that Internacional-RS also had a penalty wrongly awarded and won 2-1, playing at home, against the red-and-black team in the first round of the competition. The next opponent will be Juventude, on June 30th, at 15 pm, at Gávea. Before that, Fla will take the field to face Fluminense, on Saturday (27), at 11 am, at the Marcelo Vieira Stadium, in Xerém, for the second leg of the Carioca semi-final in the category. In the first leg, it was a two-goal draw.

The first attack of the match came from Flamengo in the 12th minute. Luiz Guilherme received the ball on the left wing, beat his marker, and crossed it back. The ball deflected off the defense, and the opposing goalkeeper prevented an own goal. Vasco responded in the 14th minute with a shot from outside the area, well saved by Gabriel Werneck.

Shortly after, Flamengo had an excellent opportunity. Rafael Tenório passed to Isaac, who shot but the goalkeeper made a great save in the 17th minute. Then, João Vitor exchanged passes with Isaac, entered the area on the left and was fouled, resulting in a penalty. The number 10 himself took the penalty with skill, placing it in the right corner in the 20th minute, opening the scoring. In their first attack after Flamengo's goal, Vasco had a good chance with a shot wide to the right by Werneck.

At 35 minutes, João Vitor dribbled past two defenders and shot, but the ball hit an opposing defender. Two minutes later, Vasco had a free kick that went just over the crossbar. In another Flamengo attack, Isaac shot, but the goalkeeper made the save at 39 minutes, after a pivot play by Luiz Guilherme. At 46 minutes, left-back Richard received his second yellow card and was sent off.

After the break, Vasco tried to take the initiative in the game to take advantage of having an extra player. Just like in the first half, Flamengo's good defensive positioning forced their opponents to shoot from distance. Most of the shots, however, were blocked. Those that got past were saved with relative ease by Gabriel Werneck. Through sheer effort, the Flamengo players managed to prevent more dangerous plays from the opposing attack and sought quick transitions to increase their lead.

It was with speed that Luiz Guilherme received the ball on the right, beat the defender, and almost scored the second goal in the 22nd minute. Flamengo continued to press hard, well-organized, and with a well-positioned defense to intercept crosses, another tactic frequently used by Vasco. In the 36th minute, the Vasco striker headed the ball wide to Werneck's left. The opponent seemed to have no more strength to score, but the referee awarded a non-existent penalty, and the equalizing goal came in the 50th minute of the second half. Later, João Vitor Couto took a free kick that deflected off the wall before the game ended after seven minutes of added time.