In the countryside of São Paulo, Flamengo thrashed Mirassol 5-1 this Sunday (16), in the 23rd round of the 2026 Brasileirão.
As the score suggests, it was a walk in the park for the Rubro-Negro side, which had no trouble at all on the pitch.
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Before the midway point of the first half, Plata took advantage of goalkeeper Walter’s poor attempt to deal with a cross from the right and set up Carrascal to open the scoring.
With a mixed lineup because of the decisive Libertadores match in midweek, Flamengo simply controlled the game until halftime.
After the break, Carrascal kept leading the Rio side.
The Colombian set up Luiz Araújo to make it two and deliver the game’s “former player rule” goal.
Wasting no time, Carrascal released Ayrton Lucas down the left, and the full-back crossed for Pedro to score the third.
And the Colombian attacking midfielder then led the decisive counterattack down the right and provided yet another assist, this time for Pedro to turn the win into a rout.
Just a few minutes after coming on, Arrascaeta provided the assist for Samuel Lino to score Flamengo’s fifth goal of the match.
And João Victor, taking advantage of Reinaldo’s corner into the six-yard box, pulled one back with a header for Mirassol.
🧐 There was controversy
Still in the first half, Carrascal was racing forward alone, but was brought down by Mirassol’s Denílson.
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Referee Rafael Klein chose only to show a yellow card to the São Paulo side’s midfielder.
The Nação showed all its outrage with the referee’s decision on social media.
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🚦 How it stands
With their second straight win in the Brasileirão, Flamengo reached 45 points and moved right up behind leaders Palmeiras (48 points).
However, Rubro-Negro still has a game in hand, precisely against Mirassol, valid for the fourth round of the league, though the CBF has yet to set a date for it to be played.
If they beat the São Paulo side, Flamengo will take the lead from Palmeiras because, at the moment, they have the better goal difference (25 to 21).
At the bottom end of the table, Mirassol, who had not lost at home since April 11, when they were beaten 2-1 by Bahia in the 11th round, sit in a bitter 16th place with 23 points.
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Rubro-Negro return to action next Wednesday (19), when they host Cruzeiro at the Maracanã in the second leg of the Libertadores round of 16 (first leg 1-1).
Meanwhile, Leão Caipira travel to Quito, Ecuador, to face LDU on Thursday (20), in the same stage of the continental tournament (first leg 1-1).
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
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