Flamengo struggled, but defeated Cienciano-PER 2-1 this Wednesday night at Maracanã Stadium in a second-round match of the Copa Libertadores. With their first win of the championship, Flamengo moved to the top of Group 4 with four points from two games. Cienciano-PER is in second place with three points, tied with Nacional-URU. Coronel Bolognesi-PER, with one point, is in last place.

With Kleberson and Diego Tardelli among the starters, Flamengo quickly took the lead. Cienciano-PER played deep, making things difficult for Flamengo's attack. The Gávea team's first chance came in the 22nd minute, when Léo Moura fired a powerful shot that goalkeeper Flores saved. From a corner kick, Kleberson nearly opened the scoring with a dangerous header.

In the 27th minute, Cienciano-PER created a threat. Chiroque fired a low shot, and goalkeeper Bruno made a beautiful save. Nine minutes later, Ibson missed another good opportunity. In the 37th minute, the red-and-black team scored at the Maracanã stadium. Toró found Souza free in the box, and the striker unleashed a powerful shot that the Peruvian goalkeeper couldn't save.

The goal made Flamengo slow down, and in the 46th minute, Cienciano-PER equalized, with Vassallo completing with a header.

In the second half, Toró missed a great chance, shooting wide. Soon after, García forced Bruno into a good save. Six minutes in, Juan crossed, and Diego Tardelli hit the post.

Flamengo dominated the game and put pressure on the Peruvian team. Coach Joel Santana made two changes to his lineup, replacing Toró and Kleberson with Marcinho and Obina.

The changes boosted the team's performance, and the referee failed to award a penalty in favor of the red-and-blacks. In the 37th minute, Obina's dangerous header went just wide of the post. Joel tried his last trick, taking off Kleberson and bringing on Jônatas.

The red-black pressure paid off, and in the 44th minute, Obina tried, but the ball fell to Marcinho to score the goal that gave Flamengo its first victory in the 2008 Copa Libertadores da América.

FLAMENGO 2 x 1 CIENCIANO\ Stadium: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ)\ Date/time: 27/2/2008 - 21:50 p.m. (Brasília time)\ Referee: Ricardo Grance (PAR)\ Assistants: Carlos Galeano (PAR) and Oscar Viera (PAR)\ Revenue/attendance: R$ 605.691,00 / 27.802 paying spectators (31.221 present)\ Yellow Cards: Juan (FLA); Romaña, Sawa (CIE)\ GOALS: Souza, 37'/1st H (1-0); Vassalo, 45'/1st H (1-1); Marcinho, 43'/2nd H (2-1)\ FLAMENGO: Bruno, Leonardo Moura, Fabio Luciano, Ronaldo Angelim and Juan; Cristian, Kleberson (Jônatas - 39'/2nd half), Ibson and Toró (Marcinho - 21'/2nd half); Diego Tardelli (Obina - 21'/2nd half) and Souza - Coach: Joel Santana.\ CIENCIANO: Flores, Solís, Marengo and Romaña and Guizasola; Bazalar, Ortiz, García (Olchese - 38'/2nd half) and Chiroque; Sawa (Corcuera - 31'/2nd half) and Vassallo - Coach: Franco Navarro.\