Flamengo was all over Santos in a game that took place on Saturday afternoon at the Maracanã.
The home side dominated play for the majority of the game, and Santos was only able to prevent them from scoring for 43 minutes. Rogério Ceni‘s team opened the scoring through Gerson late in the first half and later went on to win the game comprehensively via a 4-1 score-line. The goals came from Gabriel Barbosa twice from the penalty spot, Gerson and Filipe Luis while Bruninho got a consolation goal for Santos.
Santos boss Cuca had one eye on the Libertadores against Grêmio, and he featured a make-shift side, and the performances were evident.
The game plan lasted for just 43 minutes before the deadlock was broken by a brilliant strike from Gerson.
After the goal, Santos tried to attack more but there was little or no difference.
Gabriel Barbosa (mostly known as Gabigol) returned to the starting line-up and showed his calmness in front of goal when he took two penalty kicks in the second half to put Fla firmly in the lead. Gabriel might have bagged a brace, but Bruno Henrique was the stand out performer on the pitch for Flamengo. He repeatedly threatened Santos’ defence and had a hand in the second and third goal of his team.
Flamengo has now won three consecutive games in Brasileirão. The victory takes them to third place with 45 points; a point behind second-place Atletico-MG and five points behind leaders São Paulo with a game in hand.
For their next outing, Flamengo welcome Bahia to the Maracanã on Sunday while Santos faces Grêmio on Wednesday for the Libertadores second leg before they face Vasco in the Brazilian Championship also on Sunday.
