Flamengo see off Madureira, closing in on Carioca final spot | OneFootball

Flamengo showed strength and defeated Madureira 3-0 this Sunday at Maracanã. The match was the first leg of the Carioca Championship semifinal. The team led by Filipe Luís scored all their goals in the second half, with De la Cruz, Arrascaeta, and Luiz Araújo.

Match Situation

The second leg between the teams will take place next Monday, again at Maracanã. Flamengo can lose by up to two goals and will still advance to the final.

📋 Match Summary

🔴⚫ FLAMENGO 3 x 0 MADUREIRA 🔴🟡🔵

🏆 Competition: Campeonato Carioca | Semifinal (first leg) 🏟️ Venue: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro (RJ) 📅 Date: February 22, 2026 (Sunday) ⏰ Time: 8:30 PM (Brasília time) 🟨 Yellow Cards: Plata and Evertton (Flamengo); Coutinho, Marcão, and Jacó (Madureira) 🟥 Red Cards: None

Refereeing

Goals

FLAMENGO: Andrew, Emerson Royal, Danilo, Vitão, and Ayrton Lucas; Evertton, De la Cruz (Paquetá), and Carrascal (Arrascaeta); Plata (Luiz Araújo), Everton Cebolinha (Samuel Lino), and Pedro Coach: Filipe Luís

MADUREIRA: Neguete, Coutinho, Marcão, Jean, and Julião (Julio Cesar); Rodrigo Lindoso, Fubá, and Juninho (Adriano); Everton (Vinícius Balotelli), Jacó (Isaias), and Geovane Maranhão (Felipe Claudino) Coach: Toninho Andrade

How the match went

Flamengo started the match by pressing Madureira. The red-and-blacks created their first scoring chance at three minutes. Carrascal received a pass in the box and shot, but Neguete made a good save. The home team kept attacking and almost scored at 13 minutes. Madureira’s defense failed to clear the ball, which fell to Pedro. The striker finished, but Neguete made a great save. 

Gradually, Madureira improved their marking and began to block Flamengo’s good plays. As a result, the red-and-blacks started trying long balls, without success. The pattern of the match remained the same until the end of the first half, with no change to the score at Maracanã.

Second half

In the second half, Flamengo returned with the same attitude as at the start of the game. This time, the red-and-blacks opened the scoring at seven minutes. After a scramble in the box, the ball reached De la Cruz, who shot with no chance for Neguete. The home team almost extended the lead soon after. Plata was played into the box and shot, but the Madureira goalkeeper made the save. The Suburban Tricolor responded immediately, with Everton’s shot stopped by Andrew. 

But at 17 minutes, the red-and-blacks increased their lead. Samuel Lino was brought down in the box and the referee awarded a penalty after being called by VAR. Arrascaeta converted with style to reach his 100th goal in a Flamengo shirt.

Madureira advanced again with quality and threatened with a shot from Maranhão. Andrew made a good save. Flamengo responded with a shot from Luiz Araújo.

In the final stretch, the red-and-blacks regained control of the match and scored their third goal at 40 minutes. After a good exchange of passes, Luiz Araújo simply tapped it into the net. 

The home team still wasted a great chance to turn the score into a rout with Samuel Lino, who saw the defense clear the ball off the line. Even so, with the big win, Flamengo left the field with their spot in the State final all but secured.

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*By Gazeta Press

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.