On another inspired night for Vagner Love, Flamengo suffered more than expected but managed to seal their spot in the semifinals of the Taça Guanabara. With two goals from the number 9 and one from Adriano, the team from Gávea fell behind, but fought back and ended up earning a valuable point against Olaria on Wednesday night at Maracanã. The 3-3 draw guarantees Flamengo a spot in the next round of the competition.

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The game started off electrifying. In just one minute, Olaria opened the scoring, and Flamengo equalized shortly thereafter. In the fifth minute, midfielder Cacá received the ball outside the box, kept going, and then took a chance. Bruno tried to chase the ball, but it ended up in the left corner of the Flamengo goalkeeper's net. However, the visiting team didn't even have time to celebrate. Soon after, Leo Moura crossed into the middle of the box, and Adriano headed it in to equalize.

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From then on, the match's excitement and technical quality dropped. It wasn't until the second half that the game began to produce any real danger. Just 11 minutes in, Vagner Love made his presence felt. Love's striker capitalized on a good cross into the box and flicked it past the goalkeeper to turn the ball around. However, the red-and-black celebration was short-lived. Two minutes later, Araruama, with goalkeeper Bruno's help, equalized with a shot from inside the box.

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At 19, Cacá scored again. In a childish play, midfielder Toró conceded a penalty, was sent off, and Olaria still took the lead: 3-2. Desperation began to take hold of the red-and-blacks, who launched into the attack with grit and heart. It ended up working. More, with heart. After all, it was Vagner Love who found the net once again.

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The number 9 received a great cross from Juan in the 37th minute and simply headed it in to tie the game and send Flamengo into the semifinals of the first round of the Campeonato Carioca. In the next round, the team from Gávea, which has 16 points, faces Boavista, and a draw will secure the red-and-blacks first place in Group A of the Taça Guanabara.

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CREDITS:
FLAMENGO 3 X 3 OLARIA

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Stadium: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Date/time: 3/2/2010 - 21:50 PM (Brasília time)
Referee: Felipe Gomes da Silva (RJ)
Assistants: Wagner de Almeida Santos and Jackson Lourenço Massarra dos Santos
Income/audience: R$ 120.050,00 / 6.554 paying customers
Yellow cards: Diego, Thiago Eleutério, Rafael Santos (OLA); Ronaldo Angelim, Toró, Michael (FLA)
Red cards: Thiago Eleutério, 38'/2nd half (OLA); Toró, 18'/2nd half (FLA)
GOALS: Cacá, 5'/1st half (0-1); Adriano, 6'/1st half (1-1); Vagner Love, 11'/2nd half (2-1); Araruama, 14'/2nd half (2-2); Cacá, 18'/2nd half (2-3); Vagner Love, 37'/2nd half (3-3)

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FLAMENGO: Bruno; Léo Moura (Éverton Silva, 29'/2nd half), David, Ronaldo Angelim and Juan (Michael, 38'/2nd half); Toró, Fernando (Fierro, Halftime), Kleberson and Vinícius Pacheco; Adriano and Vagner Love. Coach: Andrade

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POTTERY: Angelo, Ivan, Thiago Eleutério, Diego and Amarildo; David, Araruama, Romário and Waldir (Willian, 42'/2nd half); Cacá (Rafael Santos, 39'/2nd half) and Aleilson. Coach: Dé Aranha.

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