Flamengo wins the Carioca Championship for the second consecutive time

The most popular club in Brazil, who prevailed 2-1 in the first leg last Sunday in the traditional 'Fla-Flu' derby, won today 1-0 with a goal in injury time, in the return match also played at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, without spectators due to the coronavirus, but with sound effects imitating a crowd.

With the new title as Carioca champion --the second consecutive and the 36th in its history--, Flamengo has won four titles this year: the South American Recopa, the Brazilian Super Cup, the Guanabara Cup and the Carioca Championship.

The Carioca champion title is defined between the champion of the Guanabara Cup, which Flamengo won earlier this year, and the champion of the Río Cup, which Fluminense won two weeks ago after the resumption of the tournament that was suspended for over 100 days due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Flamengo's title count since November of last year and since Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus took charge reaches six, including the Brazilian Championship and the Copa Libertadores.

The Portuguese coach was one of the main protagonists of this final due to the speculation about whether he will stay at Flamengo or accept the proposal he received to return to his country and take charge of Benfica, which is expected to be announced this Thursday.

Despite being better in the match and showing a more compact football than in their last commitments, Flamengo only won with a goal scored by the young Vitinho in the 49th minute.

However, Flamengo only needed a draw to be crowned champion, as they won the first leg.

The coach of the red and black club had to replace the international full-back Filipe Luis and the Uruguayan midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta at the beginning of the second half, as they felt discomfort due to the lack of rhythm.

Flamengo also could not count on their scorer Gabriel Barbosa, 'Gabigol', because he was sent off in the first leg. Despite this, the top scorer of the Brazilian Championship and the Copa Libertadores last year also won the top scorer title of the Carioca Championship, with eight goals in ten matches.

The two finals had to be played at the Maracanã without fans as a preventive measure against the advancement of the coronavirus in Brazil, the second country in the world with the most deaths (over 75,000) and infected (almost two million) by the disease.

Rio de Janeiro was the first region in South America to allow the return of professional football after the interruption in all countries due to the pandemic.