In a classic valid for the 9th round of Cariocão, Flamengo beat Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday night (25), at the Mané Garrincha stadium, in Brasília. Matheus Gonçalves, with less than a minute of play, scored the winning goal for the red-black team. It is worth mentioning that Mengão sent a team full of young players from the U-20 team to the field.

Now, Mengão will face the second leg of the Recopa Sudamericana against Independiente Del Valle, next Tuesday (28), at Maracanã. The first leg ended 1-0 for the Ecuadorians.

The game
Less than a minute into the match, Mengão opened the scoring at Mané Garrincha with a lightning strike! Matheus Gonçalves capitalized on a mistake by the Botafogo defense, intercepted the ball, and burst into the box. He took on his defender and struck powerfully, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance: 1-0.

After the goal, Botafogo tried to mount a comeback, but the red-and-black team managed to neutralize the play. In the 21st minute, Cebolinha took a corner kick into the box, and the ball was deflected at the near post. Cleiton appeared to deflect it over the goal. A good chance for Flamengo. The first half ended with Flamengo ahead.

After the break, Flamengo continued to patiently exchange passes, looking for space in the black and white defense. In the 22nd minute, Marinho received the ball wide, pulled it inside, and struck a powerful shot that the goalkeeper made a good save. Matheus França fired a shot from the rebound, but the ball bounced off the defense halfway down the field.

In the 39th minute, Botafogo equalized, but after a VAR review, the referee ruled Carlos Alberto offside. In the final stretch, Flamengo held on and left Brasília with the victory, securing early qualification for the Cariocão semifinals.

Next appointment
Rubro-Negro returns to the field on Tuesday (28) to face Independiente Del Valle, at 21:30 pm, at Maracanã, for the Recopa Sudamericana.

Flamengo lineup
Matheus Cunha; Rodrigo Caio, Pablo, Cleiton and Matheuzinho; Erick (Evertton Araújo), Igor Jesus (Lorran), Matheus Gonçalves (Matheus França); Cebolinha, Marinho (André) and Mateusão.
Coach: Rui Quinta.

Technical sheet
Botafogo 0x1 Flamengo - 9th Round of the Carioca Championship
Location: Mané Garrincha-DF
Date and time: 25/02/2023 at 18:XNUMX PM
Arbitration: Tarcizo Pinheiro Caetano, Thiago Rosa de Oliveira and Carlos Henrique Alves Filho
Yellow cards: Cebolinha (FLA), Erick (FLA), Lucas Piazon (BOT), Joel Carli (BOT), Gabriel Pires (BOT), Marçal (BOT), Marinho (FLA), Tchê Tchê (BOT), Tiquinho Soares (BOT)
Red cards: Joel Carli (BOT), Tiquinho Soares (BOT) and Marçal (BOT)
Goal: Matheus Gonçalves (1'1°T).

He went down as if it were a hilly street, cut inside, shook the net. And made the whole crowd sing!#CRF #Let's Flamengo

? @mcortesdasilva8 /CRF pic.twitter.com/H8SbzVzFIq

- Flamengo (@Flamengo) February 25, 2023