The nation expects only one thing on Saturday night: a victory for Mengão in the Clássico dos Milhões. And Flamengo fulfilled their fans' wishes by defeating Vasco 2-0 at the Maracanã in the 10th round of the Carioca Championship. Bruno Henrique, from the penalty spot, and Everton Cebolinha, late in the second half, scored the red-and-black goals.

With the result, Mengão secured their place in the Cariocão semifinals with one round to spare and leads the Taça Guanabara with 20 points. 

The game
The ball rolled at the Maracanã, with Flamengo taking the initiative to attack. Within five minutes, the red-and-black team had already created two scoring chances. The first came from a good play by Michael on the left, leaving his marker on the ground and crossing for Bruno Henrique, who ended up shooting wide. The second came from Arrascaeta, taking a free kick into the box, and Léo Pereira rose and headed the ball over the goal line.

With ample possession, Mengão exchanged passes back and forth across the attacking half, looking for space to penetrate Vasco's penalty area. In the 27th minute, Plata was lining up inside the box and was brought down by Zuccarello. The referee awarded a penalty. Bruno Henrique struck powerfully into the goalkeeper's right corner to open the scoring for Mengão: 1-0. This was the number 27's ninth goal in 14 matches against Vasco.

Flamengo scored the second goal in the 38th minute through Plata, but VAR ruled offside at the start of the play involving Michael and Varela. With short, quick passes, the team from Gávea completely surrounded Vasco, who struggled to break out of their own half. The first half ended with the red-and-blacks in the lead.  

At the start of the second half, Vasco loosened up and began to dominate possession in their attacking half, posing a threat to Rossi's goal. For the first time in the match, the red-and-black team was under pressure from their rivals. Seeing that their opponents were in better form, Filipe Luís made three changes at once. Allan, Luiz Araújo, and Léo Ortiz replaced Evertton Araújo, Arrascaeta, and Varela.

With the score in their favor, Flamengo valued possession and exchanged passes near Vasco's box. In the 37th minute, Wesley took a shot from outside the box, and Léo Jardim palmed it away. To seal the Flamengo victory, Cebolinha scored a stunning goal! Wesley advanced through the middle and attempted a pass to Plata. Vasco's defense cleared the ball, and the ball fell back to the full-back, who passed it to the number 11, who fired a beautiful shot into the top corner to make it 2-0. The match at the Maracanã ended with another good victory for Mengão, who already secured their place in the Carioca semifinals.

Week's agenda
The Most Beloved returns to the field next Saturday (22) to face Maricá, at 16:30 pm, at Maracanã, for the last round of the Guanabara Cup.

Flamengo
Rossi; Wesley, Danilo, Leo Pereira and Varela (Leo Ortiz); Evertton Araújo (Allan), Erick Pulgar and Arrascaeta (Luiz Araújo); Plata, Michael (Everton Cebolinha) and Bruno Henrique (Matheus Gonçalves).
Coach: Filipe Luís.

Vasco
Leo Jardim; Puma Rodríguez, João Victor, Lucas Freitas (Mauricio Lemos) and Lucas Piton (Victor Luis); Hugo Moura (Payet), Mateus Carvalho, Lukas Zuccarello (Jean David), Tchê Tchê (Paulinho) and Philippe Coutinho.
Coach: Fabio Carille.

Technical sheet
Flamengo 2x0 Vasco – 10th Round of the Carioca Championship
Location: Maracanã
Date and time: 15/02/2025 at 21:45 am
Audience: 44.543
Arbitration: Wagner do Nascimento Magalhães, Rodrigo Figueiredo Henrique Corrêa and Thiago Filemon Soares Pinto
Yellow cards: Varela (FLA), Maurício Lemos (VAS), Matheus Carvalho (VAS) and Everton Cebolinha (FLA)
Goals: Bruno Henrique (30'1st half) and Everton Cebolinha (43'2nd half).

END OF THE GAME AT MARACA! MENGÃO BEATS VASCO 2-0 WITH GOALS FROM BRUNO HENRIQUE AND EVERTON CEBOLINHA! MENGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! #CRF #Let's Flamengo pic.twitter.com/R6b5wz6Oss

- Flamengo (@Flamengo) February 16, 2025