Flamengo beat Fluminense 1–0 at the Maracanã this Sunday (11) in Matchday 30 of the 2026 Brasileirão.
With important Conmebol Libertadores fixtures coming up during the week, both rivals opted to rotate their squads heavily.
Fluminense, for example, made seven changes to their starting lineup.
Flamengo, with a deeper squad, made just three changes from their last match (a 2–2 draw with Santos).
Against this backdrop, Flamengo dominated the Rio derby, pressing their rivals as they tried to play out from the back and limiting their attacking threat.
The first half, however, remained goalless. The biggest talking point was Pulgar's studs-up challenge on Castillo's knee, but the referee only showed the Flamengo midfielder a yellow card.
After the break, though, Flamengo needed just 20 minutes to open the scoring.
Lucas Paquetá crossed from the right, and Carrascal struck a beautiful first-time finish to beat goalkeeper Fábio.
Trailing, Fluminense had good chances to equalize, but Argentine goalkeeper Rossi made some superb saves, including one from Serna's side-footed shot when he was unmarked in the box in stoppage time.
🚦 What it means
The derby win took Flamengo to 64 points and kept them top of the Brasileirão, one point ahead of Palmeiras.
Fluminense, meanwhile, remain third with 51 points, but could be overtaken by Athletico-PR (50 points), who visit Chapecoense this Monday (12).
Fluminense return to action on Wednesday (14), hosting Palmeiras at the Maracanã in the first leg of their Libertadores semifinal.
On Thursday (15), Flamengo visit Estudiantes in Argentina in the same continental competition.
Both rivals return to Brasileirão action next Sunday (18).
Fluminense host Santos at the Maracanã at 4 p.m. (Brasília time), while Flamengo visit Bahia at the Arena Fonte Nova at 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time).
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.