In front of an audience of more than 51 thousand people at Maracanã, Flamengo beat Goiás 1-0 this Saturday (21) and, at least momentarily, breathes more relieved after a turbulent week in charge of Rubro-Negro. The winning goal was scored by forward Pedro, in the first half. The club from Gávea goes to nine points, provisionally occupying the 11th position in the Brazilian Championship table.
Game over at Maracanã! Flamengo beat Goiás 1-0 with a goal from Pedro, for the Brazilian Championship! #CRF #VamosFlamengo pic.twitter.com/3VE34jLjIF
— Flamengo (@Flamengo) May 21, 2022
Flamengo entered the field under pressure, even though they qualified for the round of 16 of the Libertadores during the week. The reason for the controversy – in addition to the sequence of four games without a win and the 16th place in the Brasileirão – was the mismatch between Portuguese coach Paulo Sousa and goalkeeper Diego Alves, who is recovering from pubalgia.
Aware of the need for a good result, Rubro-Negro printed a rhythm of dominance of actions in Maracanã, while Goiás looked for a ball on the counterattack. Flamengo’s strategy paid off in the 16th minute. Gabriel Barbosa found a nice pass to Matheuzinho on the right, who crossed and found Pedro in excellent condition inside the area. The striker only had to score to score.
Although they had control of the match – they had a 10-1 lead in submissions at a certain point in the second stage – Flamengo could not transform the superiority of volume into a greater margin on the scoreboard. Subject to chance, Rubro-Negro was very close to suffering a tie in the final stretch of the game. At 44 minutes, in a quick move, the side Apodi appeared completely free in front of the goalkeeper Hugo, but the finalization, already inside the area, was over the goal.
? @AlexandreVidal1 and @mcortesdasilva8 / CRF pic.twitter.com/NM5VRAs04G
— Flamengo (@Flamengo) May 21, 2022
At the end of the match, the crowd offered boos and shouts of “Olê, olê, olê, Mister” (in reference to former coach Jorge Jesus) instead of applause for the victory. Team and fans will have another two meetings this week at Maracanã. First on Tuesday (24), at the end of the first phase of Libertadores, against Sporting Cristal (Peru). Then on Sunday (29), in the classic with Fluminense, for the Brazilian.
Goiás, which has eight points in the table, rests until next Saturday, when they receive Bragantino, for the Serie A. Interestingly, three days later the teams face each other again, but this time in a confrontation valid for the Copa do Brasil (the Goiás lost 2-1 at home in the first leg).
