In the last round of the first half of the Brasileirão, Flamengo fought until the end and defeated Vitória 2-1, on Wednesday night (24), at Barradão, in Salvador. Arrascaeta and Carlinhos, in the 44th minute of the second half, scored for the Rubro-Negro from Rio. With the result, Mengão reached 37 points and is three behind the leader Botafogo, with one game less.  

The game
Flamengo started the match by dominating possession and establishing an attacking presence. When Vitória tried to break into the game, the red-and-black team pressed forward to pressure the home team's possession.

The start of the match was very choppy, with no real goal-threatening plays. Vitória adopted a defensive stance, which made it difficult for Flamengo to penetrate the opposing defense. Until the 38th minute, Mengão managed to break through the opposing defense to open the scoring. Gerson passed to Arrascaeta on the left; the Uruguayan dribbled past his marker, burst into the box, and unleashed a powerful shot. The ball deflected off a defender before going in: 1-0. The Rio de Janeiro Red-and-Blacks went into halftime with a partial victory.

In the second half, Flamengo extended their lead through Fabrício Bruno, but the referee called an offence at the start of the play. Arrascaeta slipped on a corner kick and touched the ball twice.

The match became much more dynamic in the second half. With Vitória needing to attack to equalize, the Mais Querido had more space to exploit counterattacks. In the 29th minute, after a counterattack, Vitória equalized with Everaldo, who controlled the ball inside the box and fired it into the corner: 1-1.

On the next play, Gabigol managed to get past the goalkeeper and shot toward goal. Caio Vinícius cleared the ball on the line and saved Vitória. In the 40th minute, Luiz Araújo received the ball wide on the right, cut inside, and took a shot. The ball went over the goal.

Mengão, once again, persisted until the end and was rewarded with the winning goal in the 44th minute. Gabigol delivered a beautiful through ball to Carlinhos, who beat his marker and slotted it past the goalkeeper to seal the away victory for the red-and-blacks! It's worth noting that this was Carlinhos' second goal for the Sacred Mantle.

Week's agenda
The Most Beloved returns to the field next Sunday (28) to face Atlético-GO, at 16 pm, at Maracanã, for the 20th round of the Brasileirão.

Flamengo
Rossi; Varela, Fabricio Bruno, Leo Pereira and Viña (Ayrton Lucas); Allan (Carlinhos), De La Cruz (Luiz Araújo) and Arrascaeta; Gerson, Everton Cebolinha (Matheus Gonçalves) and Pedro (Gabi).
Coach: Tite.

GHT - Vitória
Lucas Arcanjo; Willean Lepo, Caio Vinícius, Wagner Leonardo and Lucas Esteves (PK); Léo Naldi, Ricardo Ryller (Zé Hugo) and Willian Oliveira (Jean Mota); Matheuzinho, Osvaldo (Everaldo) and Alerrandro (Lawan).
Coach: Thiago Carpini.  

Technical sheet
Vitória 1x2 Flamengo – 19nd Round of the Brazilian Championship
Location: Manoel Barradas Stadium (Barradão), Salvador-BA
Date and time: 24/07/2024 at 20:XNUMX am
Refereeing: Raphael Claus (FIFA/SP), Marcelo Carvalho Van Gasse (SP) and Daniel Paulo Ziolli (SP)
Yellow card: Lucas Esteves (VIT)
Goals: Arrascaeta (38'1st half), Everaldo (29'2nd half) and Carlinhos (44'2nd half).