In a duel held on Sunday afternoon (25) at CT Cidade Vozão, in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, and valid for the seventh round of the Brazilian U-20 Championship, the Garotos do Ninho drew 1-1 (Pedro Arthur) with Ceará. The result keeps Flamengo in sixth place in the competition's classification table, with 13 points won. Mengão's next two games in the Brazilian Championship will be at Gávea. On Wednesday (28), Mais Querido hosts Cruzeiro. And on Sunday, August 1, Rubro-Negro faces Corinthians. Today's match, against Ceará, marked the debut of coach Fábio Matias in charge of Mengão's U-20 team. 

The match started very evenly, with few scoring chances. The first shot for Flamengo and the game fell to Lázaro in the 13th minute. Ceará goalkeeper João Fernandes made the save without rebounding. In the 23rd minute, Lázaro crossed, and Ryan Luka arrived a fraction of a second too late to tap it into the back of the net after a deflection from the defense. Flamengo dominated the play and attacked more. In the 31st minute, Yuri de Oliveira shot from the edge of the box, but the Ceará goalkeeper made another save.

Mengão pressed on. In the 34th minute, Wesley passed to Yuri de Oliveira, who struck first time. João Fernandes, Ceará's standout performer in the first half, made another good save. However, it was the home team who opened the scoring with their first shot. Danrley scored in the 37th minute. In the 43rd minute, Lázaro headed the ball into the corner, but João Fernandes went in and made a great save, keeping the Northeastern team ahead heading into halftime.

The Nest Boys returned for the second half with two changes. It was Pedro Arthur, who replaced Yuri de Oliveira, who leveled the score in the 11th minute. And it was a stunning goal. The Flamengo striker played a one-two with Lázaro, charged at the Ceará defense, and unleashed a powerful shot from outside the box, which João Fernandes couldn't stop this time. 

Ceará threatened in the 13th and 15th minutes, with shots from outside the box that threatened João Fernando, the goalkeeper of the red-and-black team. But the "Garotos do Ninho" (The Boys of the Nest) wanted to turn the game around. In the 34th minute, Max received the ball in the box and hit it beautifully, but it went over the Ceará goal. The same happened with Lázaro's shot in the 36th minute. A minute later, Wesley crossed to Pedro Arthur, who escaped his marker inside the box but shot wide, giving the Mais Querido's last chance of the game. In the final minutes, goalkeeper João Fernando received a red card and will miss the team's eighth-round match against Cruzeiro at Gávea.