Flamengo beat Vitória 2:0 in the Brazilian Série A's twenty-second round on Saturday evening. The result keeps the hosts at the summit with fifty-four points, while Vitória remain eleventh on thirty-two. Pulgar opened the scoring in the fourteenth minute and Bruno Henrique added a second late on.
And here's the thing about that first goal — it came from a move that built patiently rather than rushed. Pulgar finished a sequence that stretched across the pitch, and Vitória's defence had switched off at the back. The away side's keeper made just one save all afternoon, which tells you something about who was dictating.
Flamengo made changes in quick succession after the interval, bringing on Arrascaeta in the sixty-fifth minute and Jorginho by the seventy-fourth. Vitória responded with their own substitutions, but they didn't find a rhythm. Ze Vitor picked up a booking in the forty-fourth minute and was eventually replaced in the ninety-third.
The second goal arrived in the eightieth minute, and by then Vitória had already surrendered the initiative. It came from open play, not a set piece, and Flamengo kept knocking on the door with six shots on target overall. The away side managed just one shot on target in reply.
The statistics tell a story of control. Flamengo held sixty-three per cent possession and completed five hundred and ninety-six passes compared to Vitória's three hundred and twenty-eight. Expected goals stood at 1.14 for the hosts against 0.18 for the visitors. Six shots on target yielded one goal — a conversion rate that won't satisfy anyone.
Flamengo extend their lead at the top, though the gap remains tight with four matches left. Vitória's recent form offers little comfort: they've lost four of their last five, including that heavy defeat to Palmeiras. Things came to a head for them tonight, and the result will make life awkward in the run-in.