Flamengo defeated leaders Botafogo 2-1 this Saturday, closing the gap on their rivals and recalled the superiority it has on the Rio de Janeiro floor in a match for the twenty-second round of the Brazilian Championship, a stunning Rio de Janeiro classic in which Bruno Henrique and Victor Sá shone.
Directed by Argentinian Jorge Sampaoli added 39 points and meanwhile moved up to third placewaiting for the game between Gremio and Curitiba this Sunday, a game in which the Porto Alegre club are the big favorites and can beat Flamengo again.
Despite the defeat Botafogo remains comfortably in first place with 51 pointsan 11-point lead over Palmeiras, his closest pursuer.
A Marlon Freitas own goal just two minutes into the game opened the scoring in Flamengo’s favor and put ‘Glorioso’ on alert, who kept pushing until he equalized with a great goal from Victor Sá.
Sampaoli’s side gained the ultimate advantage in the second half with a ball that Lucas Perri couldn’t stop and was kicked by Bruno Henrique Minutes before they canceled an out of place note.
It was a balanced meeting in which Botafogo dominated in the first half and Flamengo in the second with futile goals like that of Argentina’s Víctor Cuesta, who ended up going over Matheus Cunha’s goal.
The strategy of using the recently recovered Tiquinho Suárez early in the game an attempt to secure the lead early on It didn’t work out for Portugal coach Bruno Laje, despite the current league goalscorer trying his best.
The encounter on this Saturday was characterized by the tension of the fansriots broke out in three parts of the city hours before the game, leaving 12 people arrested and three injured.
The facts compelled the authorities to do so Reinforcement of security measures around the Nilton Santos Stadiumfor which the participation of around 700 uniformed officers was already planned.
In other games of the day, Atlético Mineiro lost a draw against Athletico Paranaense, in a game where Vitor Roque ended up a hero after scoring the “Furacão” goal.
Signed by Barcelona and in the starting XI, the youngster from Paranaense showed more enthusiasm in the supplementary game he missed several opportunities to build points.
This Sunday the main dish will be the match between Corinthians and Palmeiras. A classic from São Paulo that can also cause riots among the fans, something prosecutors warned about this week and asked for the game to be postponed for security reasons, a request they did not listen to.