On Saturday afternoon (19), in a preliminary match between Flamengo x Vasco, valid for the Brazilian Championship, at Maracanã, the Garotos do Ninho entered the field in heavy rain and beat Vasco 1-0, with a goal by Pepê.

The state title joins two others in the Gávea trophy cabinet. This year alone, Flamengo has already won the Copinha, the Taça Guanabara, and now the Campeonato Carioca. It's worth noting that this is Flamengo's 30th title in the competition. 

With the match starting very slow due to the heavy rain falling at Maracanã, the Ninho Boys were unable to continue their play due to the puddles on the pitch. Just 10 minutes in, referee João Hennio Sobral stopped the match to allow the rain to ease and allow the field to be drained.

After nearly 16 minutes of stoppage, Flamengo came back much more focused. With the field less waterlogged, the teams loosened up, and in the 12th minute, Vitor Gabriel took a chance from the edge of the box, but the ball went wide without much danger.

Flamengo was attacking aggressively down the right flank with Bill, until in the 37th minute, Vasco's full-back Luan brought down Yuri in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty. Pepê stepped up to take the penalty and opened the scoring for Flamengo. The goal boosted the midfielder's spirits, and he soon had two excellent opportunities to extend the lead. In one of them, in the 44th minute, Bill delivered a beautiful through ball, and the Flamengo number 10 burst into the box and fired a cross-shot, forcing goalkeeper Alexandre to make a good save.

Trailing, Vasco returned for the second half looking to be more aggressive in their attacks and create space for counterattacks. In the 8th minute, Bill played a one-two with Vitor Gabriel on the left. The number 7 advanced and attempted a great shot from the edge of the box, but the Vasco goalkeeper tipped it away for a corner.

This remained the case throughout the final stage, with Cruzmaltinos trying to get to the goal more effectively and Flamengo capitalizing on counterattacks. In the 17th minute, Michael sent a good ball into the box, and Hugo Moura headed it powerfully, but it went straight into the goal.

In this way, Flamengo won its 30th State Championship title.

Lineup: Gabriel Batista, Aderlan, Thuller, Dantas, Michel; Hugo Moura, Theo, Pepê; Bill, Yuri and Vitor Gabriel. Coach: Marcio Torres