On a night when nothing went right, Flamengo was defeated 2-0 by Grêmio Barueri at the Arena Barueri stadium in Greater São Paulo. With this result, the team lost fifth place to Cruzeiro, who now also have 51 points but hold the advantage in tiebreakers. The goals were scored by Val Baiano in the 48th minute of the first half, after an apparent offside; and by Ewerton in the 24th minute of the second half. The match was valid for the 32nd round of the Brazilian Championship.

Flamengo struggled to find their rhythm from the opening minutes. With Fierro and Willians playing as wingers, coach Andrade's team couldn't replicate their recent form. Five minutes in, Bruno Ribeiro passed to Thiago Humberto, who shot powerfully towards the corner. Bruno made a fine save, keeping Flamengo in the game. The red-and-black team responded two minutes later. Willians made a great individual play and shot from the edge of the box. Renê made the save for Barueri.

The game was very tight in midfield, with both teams finding it difficult to create scoring chances. Flamengo only threatened again in the 35th minute, with Willians missing a good chance with a header in front of Renê. A minute later, Thiago Humberto unleashed a powerful shot from outside the area, which Bruno parried away.

At the end of the first half, Thiago Humberto, who was offside, made a good individual play in the area and passed to Val Baiano to open the scoring: 1-0 Barueri.

Flamengo returned for the second half with Denis Marques replacing Fierro. The change improved the red-and-black team somewhat, who went on the attack in search of an equalizer. Just three minutes in, Léo Moura crossed from the right and Adriano headed dangerously.

At 16 minutes, Márcio Careca made a beautiful dribble past Leonardo Moura, entered the area and shot across goal. Bruno cut inside and Val Baiano almost extended the lead for the São Paulo team. At 22 minutes, Andrade substituted Maldonado for Erick Flores. Two minutes later, Ewerton exchanged passes with Thiago Humberto and scored past Bruno: 2-0 Barueri.

Finally, Andrade took Juan off and brought on Toró. It didn't work, and Barueri had more chances to extend their lead, but were thwarted by a good performance from Bruno.

Now, Flamengo needs a win to stay alive in the competition, after seeing São Paulo open up a four-point lead. Flamengo's next match is against Santos, this Saturday, October 31st, at 6:30 PM.

The match was streamed live on Flamengo's official Twitter account: http://twitter.com/CR_Flamengo.

TECHNICAL DATA: BARUERI 2 X 0 FLAMENGO

Stadium: Arena Barueri, Barueri (SP) Date/time: 10/28/09 - 21:50 PM (Brasília time) Referee: Heber Roberto Lopes (FIFA/PR) Assistants: Gilson Bento Coutinho (PR) and Ivan Carlos Bohn (PR) Revenue / Attendance: R$ 218.720,00 / 10.354 paying spectators
Yellow cards: Daniel Marques, João Vitor, Márcio Careca and Flavinho (BAR) Red cards: -

GOALS: Val Baiano, 48'/1st half (1-0); Éwerton, 25'/2nd half (2-0)

BARUERI: Renê, Bruno Ribeiro, Daniel Marques and Leandro Castan; Marcio Careca, Ralf, João Vitor, Éwerton (Márcio Hahn, 34'/2nd half) and Thiago Humberto; Flavinho (Otacílio Neto, 27'/2nd half) and Val Baiano (William, 45'/2nd half). Coach: Luiz Carlos Goianio.

FLAMENGO: Bruno, Léo Moura, Álvaro, Ronaldo Angelim and Juan (Toró, 35'/2nd half); Aírton, Maldonado (Erick Flores, 22'/2nd half), Willians and Fierro (Denis Marques, half-time); Zé Roberto and Adriano. Coach: Andrade.