Flamengo defeats Bahia at the Maracanã and extends their Brasileirão campaign with a third consecutive victory.

Maintaining their good form this season, Flamengo beat Bahia 2-0 this Sunday (19), at Maracanã, for the 12th round of the Brasileirão. With goals from Arrascaeta and Lucas Paquetá, the Rubro-Negro achieved their third consecutive victory in the competition and reached 23 points, consolidating their second place, with one game less. The night was also marked by emotion, with tributes to the idol of Brazilian basketball Oscar Schmidt, forever etched in the club's history.

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The game

The match began with Flamengo looking to advance into the attacking third through a series of passes. Without the ball, the red-and-black team pressed high to try and regain possession in the attacking half.

The Most Beloved maintained the pressure in search of opening the scoring — which happened just 16 minutes later. Arrascaeta, who entered the field wearing the number 14 shirt in homage to the eternal idol Oscar Schmidt, played a one-two with Pedro and finished into the net: 1-0. In the celebration, the Uruguayan once again paid tribute to the icon of national basketball, who left us last Friday (17).

After the goal, Bahia needed to push forward more and managed to balance the game for a few moments. At 28', Rossi made a good save after a shot from Erick Pulga. In the final stretch of the first half, both teams went back to attacking, but without changing the score. Thus, Flamengo went into halftime with the lead.

Returning for the second half, Flamengo continued to control possession and exchange passes in the attacking third, searching for openings. Seven minutes in, they almost scored a second goal. Plata received the ball on the right and passed to Arrascaeta at the edge of the box. The Uruguayan took a placed shot, but Léo Vieira made the save.

Three minutes later, another great chance for Flamengo: Varela crossed into the area and Arrascaeta headed the ball against the post. Flamengo almost extended their lead. At 17', Bahia responded with a shot from Jean Lucas that hit the crossbar.

As time went on, the game became more open, with both teams creating opportunities. At 30', Pedro tried to surprise from midfield after noticing the goalkeeper was out of position, but Léo Vieira managed to deflect the ball for a corner. Following that, Plata made a great individual play down the right and shot, forcing another save from the goalkeeper.

In the 34th minute, Flamengo scored their second goal. De La Cruz took a corner kick into the box, Saúl flicked it on, and Lucas Paquetá appeared to finish with a first-time shot, making it 2-0 at the Maracanã. It's worth noting that both Nico and Saúl had just entered the game, which also marked the Spaniard's return to the pitch after recovering from heel surgery.

In the final minutes, Flamengo managed the result and secured another crucial victory in the Brasileirão, keeping them close behind league leaders Palmeiras.

Flamengo

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

Bahia

Léo Vieira; Gilberto (Caio Alexandre), David Duarte, Santiago Mingo and Luciano Juba; Acevedo, Jean Lucas and Everton Ribeiro (Michel Araújo); Erick Pulga (Ademir), Willian José (Everaldo) and Cristian Oliveira (Sanabria).
Coach: Rogério Ceni.

Week's agenda

Flamengo returns to the field next Wednesday (23) to face Vitória, at 21:30 pm, at Maracanã, for the first leg of the fifth phase of the Copa do Brasil.

Technical sheet

Flamengo 2-0 Bahia – Brazilian Championship | Round 12
Location: Maracanã, RJ
Date and time: 19/04/2026, at 19:30 am
Referees: Flávio Rodrigues de Souza (SP), Daniel Paulo Ziolli (SP) and Andrey Luiz de Freitas (SP)
Yellow card: Léo Pereira (FLA)
Goals: Arrascaeta (16'/1st half) and Lucas Paquetá (34'/2nd half).