Flamengo take the lead but sit back late on, draw with Ceará

At the Arena Castelão, Flamengo and Ceará drew 1-1, on Sunday (3), in the 18th round of the 2025 Brasileirão.

In the first half, the Rubro-Negro was dominant, having 75% of ball possession, although they didn't pose much danger to the opposing goalkeeper.

Gonzalo Plata, Bruno Henrique, and Samuel Lino, in fact, had good chances to score.

However, the lead on the scoreboard was achieved in a great collective play, with Léo Ortiz giving the pass in the area high up, Gonzalo Plata giving the headed assist, and Arrascaeta (36') scoring with his first touch.

This was the 14th goal for the Uruguayan star with the Rubro-Negro shirt, in 36 games in the season.

And a detail: since the elimination in the Club World Cup, on June 29, Flamengo had not scored a goal in the first half. On that occasion, however, the result was 4-2 for Bayern Munich.

Você sabia? 🤔

A última vez que o @Flamengo havia marcado um gol no 1º tempo de um jogo tinha sido na derrota por 4 a 2 para o Bayern de Munique, pela Copa do Mundo de Clubes, com Gerson.

Isso foi em 29 de junho, há 35 dias.

📸Reuters pic.twitter.com/UbbhDw3O39

— Gato Mestre (@gatomestre) August 3, 2025

After the interval, Ceará left aside the strategy of playing closed and seeking the counter-attack and went after the visitors.

Lucas Mugni, who entered the field after the break, hit the post (10') and took the corner kick that Pedro Raul (21') headed in, rising higher than the defenders to level the score.

The center-forward, who scored his 13th goal in the Brasileirão, took advantage of goalkeeper Rossi's strange exit.

🚦 How it stands

The draw was enough for Flamengo to reach 37 points and retake the lead, which had been with Cruzeiro (37 points) for a few hours, after a win over Botafogo.

With one game less than Raposa, the cariocas are ahead due to a better goal difference (24 x 19).

Ceará, in turn, reached 22 points and stayed in tenth place.

Rubro-Negro returns to the field next Wednesday (6), when they visit Atlético-MG, at Arena MRV, for the return match of the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil. In the first leg, Galo won 1-0.

In the Brasileirão, Flamengo hosts Mirassol, at Maracanã, on Saturday (9), to close the first round. Vozão visits Palmeiras, at Allianz Parque, on Sunday (10).

Featured photo: Gilvan de Souza/Flickr Flamengo

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