Flamengo thrash Botafogo 3-0 in historic 400th derby at Maracanã, close gap on leaders

Flamengo dominated Botafogo from start to finish at the Maracanã on Sunday to claim a dominant 3-0 victory in the 400th meeting between the Rio rivals, keeping their title push alive in round 25 of the Série A.

Samuel Lino was the star of the show with two goals, while Juan Fernando Quintero sealed the rout to send the home crowd into raptures.

The Match

From the first whistle, Flamengo controlled possession and dictated the tempo in the attacking third. Botafogo, lined up with five defenders, retreated deep and looked to exploit counterattacking opportunities. The visitors came close in the eighth minute when Arthur Cabral found the net, but VAR ruled a handball in the buildup and the goal was chalked off.

Without hesitation, Flamengo broke the deadlock shortly after with a slick move. Jorginho slipped an incisive pass to Lino, who burst through Botafogo's midfield and produced a composed finish past Gabriel Batista to make it 1-0. It was Lino's 12th goal of the season.

Flamengo appeared to have doubled their lead in the 21st minute when Pedro converted, only for the referee to flag Lino for an offside position in the buildup. Mengo pressed relentlessly throughout, creating further openings to extend their advantage. In the 29th minute, Pedro controlled the ball in the box but couldn't get a shot away, and when Ayrton Lucas's follow-up cross arrived, Batista made a timely save.

As the first half wound down, Flamengo maintained their stranglehold on the game, completely outclassing their opponents. They could have gone in at the break with a far more commanding scoreline.

Botafogo emerged with more attacking intent after the restart, probing around Flamengo's area in search of parity. Leonardo Jardim responded by introducing Lucas Paquetá for Luiz Araújo in the 18th minute. At the quarter-hour mark of the second period, Arrascaeta linked with Pedro before exchanging with the Uruguayan, whose first-time effort was saved by Batista.

Another Flamengo goal was ruled out in the 22nd minute when Arrascaeta crossed and Paquetá headed home, but the midfielder was judged to be in an offside position. Looking to freshen things up, Jardim sent on Carrascal in place of Arrascaeta.

In a slick attacking move down the left, Lino received the ball and squared it to the middle. Paquetá arrived to finish but Batista produced another sharp stop.

Relief came in the 40th minute with Lino's second of the afternoon! Carrascal sent a perfect pass to the number 16, who slotted past Batista with aplomb to make it 2-0.

Flamengo put the contest to bed with a third goal that had the Maracanã in raptures. Following a neat one-touch sequence in midfield, Carrascal received in space and struck first-time into the corner past Batista. The win sent Flamengo's three-point haul and kept them firmly in the title hunt.

Flamengo

Rossi; Emerson Royal, Léo Ortiz, Léo Pereira, Ayrton Lucas; Erick Pulgar, Jorginho, Arrascaeta (Carrascal); Luiz Araújo (Lucas Paquetá), Samuel Lino, Pedro (Everton Cebolinha).

Manager: Leonardo Jardim.

Botafogo

Gabriel Batista; Vitinho (Villalba), Ferraresi, Justino, Marçal, Alex Telles (Lucas Monzón); Edenílson (Medina), Danilo, Montoro (Danilo Pereira); Arthur Cabral (Júnior Santos).

Manager: Rodrigo Bellão.

What's Next

Flamengo return to action on Wednesday (2 September) to face Mirassol at the Maracanã, kick-off 19:30 local time, in a rescheduled fixture from the first round of the Série A.

Match Stats

Flamengo 3-0 Botafogo | Série A | Matchday 25
Venue: Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro
Date and time: 30 August 2026, 16:00 local
Referee: Alex Gomes Stefano (RJ), assisted by Rodrigo Figueiredo Henrique Correa (RJ) and Luiz Claudio Regazone (RJ)
Yellow cards: Marçal (BOT), Justino (BOT)
Goals: Samuel Lino (12', 40'), Carrascal (43').