Santos vs Flamengo 2-2

Flamengo led 2-0 at half-time, but Santos came back after the break and Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior scored twice from the spot after coming on at half-time to earn a 2-2 draw at Estádio Urbano Caldeira.

Flamengo struck first in the 43rd minute when Danilo Luiz da Silva headed in from Pedro’s assist to make it 1-0, and Lucas Paquetá doubled the lead three minutes into first-half stoppage time from Jorge Carrascal’s pass. Santos had already picked up bookings for Gonzalo Escobar, Gustavo Henrique and Álvaro Barreal by then, and they had to wait until the restart to change the game. Philippe Coutinho and Álvaro Barreal went off in the 45th minute as Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior and Rony came on, before Santos had to chase the deficit from 2-0 down at the interval.

The second half belonged to the penalty spot. VAR confirmed a penalty for Santos on 72 minutes after Rony was involved, and Neymar converted on 82 minutes to cut the gap to 2-1. Flamengo lost Jorginho to a red card on 79 minutes, then Neymar scored again on 88 minutes, his second of the match, to make it 2-2. Flamengo had made two changes on 69 minutes, with Jorge Carrascal and Lucas Paquetá among those replaced, and another two on 81 minutes as they tried to protect the lead.

The numbers pointed to a closer contest than the score at half-time suggested. Flamengo had 55% possession and more passes, 490 to Santos’ 389, while Santos had more shots, 16 to 12. Flamengo led shots on target 6-4, both sides won five corners, Santos were caught offside twice and Flamengo not at all, and the saves were 3-2. The foul count was almost even at 16-15.

Santos were booked six times, with Gonzalo Escobar on 12 minutes, Gustavo Henrique on 34, Álvaro Barreal on 36, Neymar on 53, Christian Oliva on 57 and Rodinei on 61. Flamengo had four yellow cards for Pedro on 41 minutes, Lucas Paquetá on 55, Bruno Henrique on 85 and Emerson Royal three minutes into stoppage time. Jorginho was sent off on 79 minutes.