In a very difficult and balanced match played on Wednesday afternoon (22.02) at Gávea Stadium, Flamengo defeated Carapebús/Campos 2-1 (Lucas Silva and Bernardo), and took the lead in group A of the Guanabara U-20 Cup, with 13 points won in six games, ahead of Botafogo and Cabofriense, who have 10 points. The Garotos do Ninho train this Thursday morning at Ninho do Urubu and will have a break during Carnival, returning to training next Tuesday, 28.02, when they will begin preparations for the duel against Tigres, in Los Lários, on 05.03.

The heat was intense in Rio de Janeiro's southern zone, but that didn't stop Flamengo from starting the game suffocating their opponents, as has become customary, especially in matches played at Gávea. The tactic once again paid off, and Flamengo opened the scoring in the 13th minute, when Jardeu delivered a beautiful pass that left Lucas Silva one-on-one with the goal. In the 17th minute, goalkeeper Yago, making his U-20 debut, made the first of his three great saves in the match, a powerful shot from outside the Flamengo box. Then, in the 19th minute, João Pedro made the most beautiful play of the match. He received the ball in the Flamengo's defensive half, dribbled past the entire opposing team, and nearly scored a great goal. But when it came to taking the 10-man goal, his shot went over the goal. Flamengo still had two good chances from set pieces, in the 28th and 39th minutes, both with Patrick, but the score remained the same until the final whistle of the first half.

In the second half, Carapebús/Campos lived up to its strong campaign in the championship, sitting second in Group B, and evened the score. In the fifth minute, Yago appeared again, making his second great save of the game after striker Gilsandro made a clever cutback right in front of him. In the ninth minute, Yago, Flamengo's standout player, again made his third great save, a point-blank shot that caught him off guard. But in the tenth minute, there was no way out. With a quick attack, the Norte-Fluminense team equalized through Gilsandro.

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From then on, the game became an attack versus defense. Flamengo increasingly pressed forward and went in search of the winning goal, while Carapebús simply defended, with all 11 players behind the ball. The pressure grew increasingly intense, and the persistence paid off in the 41st minute, with defender Bernardo heading in the goal that gave Flamengo another victory in the U-20 State Championship.

"First of all, I want to thank the entire group. We worked hard all week to win, and everyone deserves it. Today we started the game a little off and didn't perform well, but at Flamengo, we learned that when technique is lacking, grit must prevail. And that's what happened today. As a defender, my main goal is to not concede a goal, but whenever I can contribute in attack, I'll be happy to help our team. Today, thank God, everything went well, and we'll sleep on top of our group," said defender Bernardo.

A standout for the team in the game and a key player in the team's fourth victory in four games played at Gávea, goalkeeper Yago spoke about his debut in the category, with a great performance, victory and leadership of the group.

"I just have to thank. Especially Professor Nielsen, our goalkeeping coach, with whom I work daily to achieve exactly what I managed to do in this game. The victory was very important; it gives us the lead in the group, and that's where Flamengo, the biggest club in the world, always has to be," concluded Yago.