Flamengo raced to a thumping 5-0 victory over Bahia at Pituaçu on Sunday. Gabigol was the star with a hatrick on the day, while Pedro and Vitinho both came from the bench to complete the rout.
Renato Gaucho secured his second victory in the Brazilian Championship after overseeing a 1-0 victory over Defensa y Justicia in his first game in charge last week.
The visitors pressed aggressively from the start, while Bahia sat back in search of a counterattack, but struggled to defend.
The game came alive in the 23rd minute, when Flamengo were awarded a penalty for a foul by Nino Paraba on Arrascaeta. Gabigol converted beautifully to put Flamengo ahead. The star forward grabbed his second after receiving an assist from Isla in the area in the 41st minute.
Flamengo should have wrapped up the game easily in the first half, but Michael, Everton Ribeiro, Diego, and Isla all wasted clear-cut chances, leaving the game at 2 nil after 45 minutes.
In the second half, Bahia got off to a flying start, with Gilberto missing two chances to reduce the deficit and Matheus Galdezani striking the crossbar.
Gabigol, on the other hand, scored the visitor’s third goal in the 62nd minute, completing his hat trick.
Matheus Peixoto made numerous additional saves, but he couldn’t stop Pedro’s effort, as the substitute who replaced Gabigol in the front scored the game’s fourth goal.
Vitinho, who assisted on the fourth goal, made the transition from provider to scorer in the 85th minute, making it 5-0.
In the next round, Bahia will face Atlético-MG at Mineiro on Sunday, while Flamengo will face Sao Paulo at Maracana.
Rubro-Negro will then meet Argentina’s Defensa y Justicia for the second leg of their Libertadores round of 16 matchup at Maracana on Wednesday.
