Cruzeiro lose to Santos, Flamengo pull ahead in Brasileirão | OneFootball

Flamengo Opens Three-Point Lead Over Cruzeiro in Brasileirão Table

Flamengo is the symbolic champion of the first half of the Brasileirão. With the victory over Mirassol on Saturday (09), the team secured the feat. However, they had to wait for the Cruzeiro vs. Santos game on Sunday (10). At Mineirão, the home team took the lead and won 2-1. As a result, Mengão finished the first half of the Brazilian Championship at the top with a three-point lead.

HOW IS THE BRASILEIRÃO STANDINGS?

Tournament table provided by Superscore

With the result, Cruzeiro stopped at 37 points, three behind Flamengo. However, it's worth noting that Rubro-Negro still owes a game in the first half: against Sport, at Ilha do Retiro, in a postponed match due to Flamengo's participation in the Club World Cup in June. On the other hand, the Minas Gerais team has already completed the 19 matches of the first half of the competition.

HOW WAS CRUZEIRO'S DEFEAT ON SUNDAY?

Cruzeiro dominated Santos in the first half. The team from Neymar escaped a sound beating thanks to the excellent performance of goalkeeper Gabriel Brazão, who is also being considered by Flamengo for 2026. However, the goalkeeper could not do anything about the goal scored by Fabrício Bruno, ex-Mengão, at 43 minutes of the first half, when he received a cross from Wanderson and scored.

Despite the dominance of Cruzeiro, Santos missed a rare chance to equalize in the first half's extra time with their star player. After a mistake by the home team's defense, Neymar received the ball completely free but failed to score.

At halftime, coach Cleber Xavier, an assistant to Tite at Flamengo last year, made three changes, and the game changed. The Santos team did not take long to equalize, with a goal from Guilherme, at 17 minutes of the second half. Shortly after, Kaio Jorge even scored for Cruzeiro, but the VAR annulled the play due to a foul. At 44', Caballero received a beautiful pass from Guilherme and turned the game around.

HOW WILL THE NEXT ROUND OF BRASILEIRÃO BE?

There will be no round of Brasileirão in the middle of the week, as Flamengo and Palmeiras have commitments in the Libertadores, while Cruzeiro rests. However, on Sunday (17), Mais Querido faces Internacional at Beira-Rio. The third-placed Palmeiras faces Botafogo at Engenhão on the same day. On Monday (18), the Minas Gerais team faces Mirassol in the interior of São Paulo.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.