Rayan’s streak against Fluminense, from Vasco’s academy to seniors, includes a final screamer | OneFootball

Rayan has again tormented Fluminense, extending a pattern that began in Vasco’s youth teams. He struck the opener on Thursday and sparked the move for the second, having been decisive in the 2-0 league win two months earlier.

Rayan joined Vasco at six and repeatedly faced Fluminense across age groups. He later told ge he had played them even more than Flamengo in the youth ranks and that the clássico was always heated.

In August 2021, on his under-17 debut, he scored against Fluminense in the Copa Rio final shortly after turning 15. It finished 1-1, and Fluminense won the shootout.

In 2022, still under-17, his reputation grew. He scored in a 2-1 first leg win in the Copa do Brasil quarter-finals that set up progress to the semis, then in a 1-1 league draw. He also hit two goals in each leg of the Copa Rio final.

In the return at Estádio Nivaldo Pereira in Nova Iguaçu, he sent a long-range strike into the top corner past goalkeeper Luiz Jung. Vasco won the competition.

Promoted to the seniors at 16, he met Fluminense only a few times at under-20. He scored in one tie, but Vasco went out in the last 16 of the 2023 Copa do Brasil at that level.

In 2025’s first-round clássico, he provoked Fluminense after João Victor scored, tracing a C with his hand in reference to the club’s time in Série C. Fluminense turned the match and replied on social media afterwards.

Vasco visit the Maracanã on Sunday for the semi-final second leg, with a draw enough to go through. The winners will face Corinthians or Cruzeiro.

Source: Globo.com