What a comeback! In the debut of the 2021 Libertadores, Flamengo beat Vélez Sarsfield 3-2 on Tuesday night (20), at the José Amalfitani stadium. After falling behind on the scoreboard, Mais Querido went forward and managed the comeback with goals from Willian Arão, Gabigol, from a penalty, and Arrascaeta, with a shot from outside the area.

The game
Flamengo started the match by pressing forward and pressuring Vélez's attack. Six minutes in, the red-and-black team made their first good triangle move. Everton Ribeiro played a one-two with Diego and passed to Gabigol in the box, who tried to reach the ball but couldn't reach it. In the 20th minute, Vélez opened the scoring with Janson: 1-0.

After so much persistence, Mengão equalized late in the first half! After Arrascaeta's corner kick, the ball fell to Gerson, who found Arão in the box. Unmarked, the Flamengo defender sent the ball into the back of the net, leveling the score at 1-1.

Early in the second half, Vélez took the lead again through Janson: 2-1. In the 14th minute, Gabigol performed a beautiful dribble at the edge of the box, cleared the marker, and was brought down by the goalkeeper in the box. The referee awarded a penalty to Mengão. Gabi himself stepped up to take the penalty and sent it into the left corner, beating Hoyos: 2-2.

In the 31st minute, Arrascaeta passed to Gabigol, who advanced quickly and shot. Goalkeeper Hoyos made a great save, and on the rebound, the Argentine defense cleared the danger. Soon after, Vélez managed to turn the game around! Arrascaeta took advantage of Vélez's slack marking and sent a powerful shot from outside the box into the goalkeeper's top corner to score a stunning goal: 3-2.

After the comeback, the red-and-black team knew how to control the game and manage the result, leaving the field with a very important victory in their Libertadores debut.

Next appointment
Rubro-Negro returns to the field next Saturday (24) to face Volta Redonda, at 19 pm, at Maracanã, for the last round of the Taça Guanabara.

Flamengo lineup
Diego Alves; Isla, Willian Arão, Gustavo Henrique (Bruno Viana) and Filipe Luis; Diego, Gerson (Hugo Moura), Everton Ribeiro (Vitinho) and Arrascaeta; Bruno Henrique (Pedro) and Gabi.
Coach: Rogério Ceni.