Coluna do Fla
·30 July 2026
Flamengo v Internacional: Pulgar booking exposes wild card average

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Yahoo sportsColuna do Fla
·30 July 2026

In addition to the bitter draw, Flamengo had to deal with another punishment for Erick Pulgar against Internacional in the 21st round of the Brasileirão. As a result, the booking was the midfielder’s eighth in the 20 matches played so far in 2026.
So, the average of 0.4 cards per game makes the Chilean’s current season his second highest with the Manto Sagrado. That is because, in 2024, the player received 19 yellows and one red in 47 appearances, with a rate of 0.42 bookings per match.
The number of cards shows Pulgar’s intense style in matches. Against Internacional, for example, the midfielder caught his opponent in the neck with his elbow. The yellow leaves the player one booking away from suspension for the 22nd round of the Brasileirão.
From 2022 until now, the midfielder has already missed 11 matches for Mais Querido because of accumulated cards. The number of games is higher, for example, than the nine matches a team plays to win the Copa do Brasil.
It is no coincidence that Pulgar has never gone past 50 matches in a season for Rubro-Negro. After all, 2024 is the year in which the player made the most appearances with the Manto Sagrado, with 47 matches. However, the midfielder also had injuries that sidelined him.
With Pulgar one booking away from suspension, Flamengo face Vitória on Sunday (August 9), in the 22nd round of the Brasileirão. The ball starts rolling at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at the Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro.
Pulgar is a great defensive midfielder. He has good ball distribution and makes good runs into the opposition box, but he has some very careless moments. Flamengo came very close to playing the 2025 Libertadores final with ten men,” said João Vítor Reis, who added: “These are actions that border on aggression for no reason. Against Bragantino, for example, he gained nothing by punching his opponent in the back of the head. In fact, he got injured and got himself sent off when Flamengo were losing 3-0,” he opined.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.







































