Fla beat Barcelona de Guayaquil 2-1 at the Monumental stadium on Tuesday with goals from Pedro and Arrascaeta. Elsewhere, Martínez grabbed one for the Ecuadorians.
With Gabigol out injured, Pedro was chosen to lead the line and he did just that perfectly.
The forward opened the scoring in a beautiful finish, after Gerson"s pass early on in the sixth minute. The forward also started the play which resulted in Arrascaeta"s goal 20 minutes later. One of the best on the field, he had to go off in the second half due to a knock and was badly missed by Fla.
Martinez grabbed one for Barcelona de Guayaquil in the second half but Fla did just enough to hold on to their lead until the end of the game.
After the game, Pedro dedicated the win to the players who were absent (including some for testing positive for covid-19).
"Today we show the power that Flamengo has, our will, our race on the pitch. And this victory goes to everyone who didn"t play, to everyone who couldn"t play, to our fans too. I hope that we can evolve and grow to achieve more things " said the striker.
With the result, Flamengo are up to nine points and closely stay second in Group A, as they lose on goal difference to Independiente del Valle, who was beaten in the round.
To guarantee a spot in the next round, Fla needs to score and hope that Junior Barranquilla is defeated by Barcelona.
Flamengo will play for Libertadores again next Wednesday. They will face Independiente del Valle in Maracanã. Barcelona visits Junior Barranquilla on the same day and at the same time.
