This Wednesday (03.03), Flamengo beat Madureira 2-0 and continued without stumbling in the Taça Rio. And if the victory was not brilliant, the Rubro-negro followed the recommendations given by coach Andrade last Tuesday: not to lose points against teams considered small.

With the result, Flamengo takes the lead in Group A of the Taça Rio with six points. Vagner Love, who scored the second goal for Flamengo, remains the competition's top scorer with nine goals.

"The fans always want to see a spectacle, but we don't always get that. We always go in looking to get the three points. We know we're a little behind, but we won," said the Love Gunner.

In the opening minutes, the game was already looking favorable to Flamengo. While posing little threat to Bruno's goal, Madureira also created space. Thus, led by Vagner Love, the red-and-black attack surrounded the Tricolor Suburbano goal until scoring.

In the 14th minute, Fierro was fouled on the right wing. Juan stepped up to take the shot, and after the usual pushing and shoving, Fernando, opportunistic, at the far post, finished for the goal.

Buoyed by their lead, Flamengo threatened again four minutes later. After a beautiful one-two between Vagner Love and Fierro, the ball fell to Willians, who finished on goal, aiming for the left corner of the Madureira goalkeeper's net, but narrowly missed.

The Love Gunner once again troubled Madureira's goal in the 24th minute. After receiving a good pass from Vinícius Pacheco, he dribbled past a defender and fired a powerful shot wide.

While Flamengo maintained possession, the Tricolor from the suburbs posed little threat. Bruno only made a save in the 35th minute. After a cross from the right, defender Zacarias headed the ball, but the Flamengo goalkeeper was well positioned and made the save.

Failing to reach the Flamengo goal in the first half, Madureira returned for the second half with two changes. And the suburban Tricolor soon took the lead. After a beautiful exchange of passes, right-back Bruno found himself one-on-one with the Flamengo goalkeeper, but shot wide.

The move galvanized Flamengo, who began to press. In the 11th minute, Juan attempted a cross from the left and nearly scored. Six minutes later, on a counterattack led by Vinícius Pacheco, Vagner Love also nearly scored.

Seeing the possibility of extending the lead, Andrade decided to inject some fresh blood into the team. Twenty minutes into the second half, the coach took off midfielder Fierro and brought on Ramon. The change allowed Flamengo to continue creating threats. Twice, with dangerous free kicks from the right wing, the Red-Blacks forced the Madureira goalkeeper to work.

Then, in the 28th minute, Vagner Love received a pass from Vinícius Pacheco and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. However, the Love Gunner couldn't find the net. After the play, Andrade made two changes: Juan and Vinícius Pacheco were replaced by Rodrigo Alvim and Petkovic.

The changes didn't really add much momentum to the game, which persisted in remaining lukewarm. However, in the 43rd minute, the Love Gunner broke the deadlock. Vagner Love received a good pass from midfielder Ramon and, from the edge of the box, fired a shot into the left corner of the Madureira goal: 2-0 Flamengo and the final score of the game.