On Easter Sunday, Flamengo comes back to life in the second half and defeats Santos at the Maracanã.

In the spirit of Easter and renewal, Flamengo showed resilience to achieve a great victory at the Maracanã. After falling behind early in the second half, the Rubro-Negro grew into the game, turned the game around against Santos and won 3-1 this Sunday (5), in the tenth round of the Brasileirão. Pedro, Jorginho and Lucas Paquetá scored in the Rubro-Negro comeback. With the victory, Mengão reached 17 points and is in fifth place with one game less. 

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The game

In the opening minutes of the match, Flamengo worked the ball around the defense, exchanging passes from their own half to the attack, looking to create openings in Santos' defense. In the 12th minute, Jorginho delivered a good through ball to Varela, who crossed low into the six-yard box looking for Pedro, but Lucas Veríssimo anticipated the play and made the interception at the last moment.

Gradually, the Flamengo team began to create more dangerous opportunities in front of the opponent's goal. Arrascaeta delivered a good pass to Samuel Lino on the left wing. The striker went to the byline and crossed into the area; Varela appeared unmarked and headed the ball over the goal. In the 35th minute, Carrascal dribbled freely through the middle and shot from the edge of the area, but the ball went over the crossbar. The first half ended goalless at the Maracanã.

At the start of the second half, Santos opened the scoring. Just two minutes in, Oliva passed to Lautaro Díaz, who outpaced the defense and shot from outside the box into the left corner past Rossi: 1-0. Flamengo managed to equalize shortly after through Léo Ortiz, but VAR ruled the defender offside at the start of the play.

Flamengo continued to press forward and managed to equalize in the 18th minute with a goal from Pedro. Carrascal went to the byline and delivered a perfect cross for the number 9 to rise above Zé Ivaldo and head the ball into the back of the net: 1-1. With the goal, Pedro became Flamengo's all-time leading scorer of the century, tied with Gabriel Barbosa.

The turnaround came soon after, to the delight of the fans at the Maracanã. Arrascaeta was brought down inside the area by Barreal, and the referee awarded a penalty. Jorginho took the kick and, with his usual mastery, put Flamengo ahead: 2-1.

With a different approach, Flamengo continued attacking, creating opportunities. In the 28th minute, Jorginho delivered a beautiful pass to Bruno Henrique, whose shot hit the post. On the rebound, Carrascal shot wide, wasting a great chance to extend the lead.

To seal the victory, a stunning goal from Paquetá in the final minutes. The Flamengo youth academy product received a pass from Plata and struck a skillful shot from the edge of the box to score the third goal for the red-and-black team in the match.

Due to the large number of stoppages, referee Anderson Daronco signaled 12 minutes of added time. Flamengo almost scored a fourth goal in the 55th minute: in a lightning-fast counter-attack, De La Cruz passed to Plata inside the area, but the Ecuadorian hit the post. Shortly after, the referee blew the final whistle, confirming Flamengo's victory in front of a packed Maracanã.

Flamengo

Rossi; Varela, Léo Ortiz, Léo Pereira and Ayrton Lucas; Evertton Araújo (Lucas Paquetá), Jorginho and Arrascaeta (De La Cruz); Carrascal (Plata), Samuel Lino (Bruno Henrique) and Pedro (Luiz Araújo).
Coach: Leonardo Jardim.

Santos

Gabriel Brazão; Zé Ivaldo (Gabriel), Lucas Veríssimo, Luan Peres and Escobar; Oliva (Willian Arão), Gustavo Henrique, Gabriel Bontempo (Zé Rafael), Barreal (Rollheiser) and Lautaro Díaz; Thaciano (Moisés).
Coach: Cuca.

Week's agenda

Flamengo returns to the field next Wednesday (8) to face Cusco, at 21:30 pm, at the Garcilaso de la Vega stadium, in the opening match of the Conmebol Libertadores group stage.

Technical sheet

Flamengo 3 x 1 Santos – Brazilian Championship | 10th round
Location: Maracanã, RJ
Date and time: 05/04/2026, at 17:30 am
Referees: Anderson Daronco (RS), Michael Stanislau (RS) and Thiaggo Americano Labes (SC)
Yellow cards: Gabriel Bontempo (SAN), Barreal (SAN)
Goals: Lautaro Díaz (2'2nd half), Pedro (18'2nd half), Jorginho (25'2nd half) and Lucas Paquetá (43'2nd half).