In the finals of the first half of the Rio de Janeiro state championship, Flamengo beat Boavista 1-0 on Sunday, Xinhua reported.
With the title of the first half secured, Flamengo must win the second half in order to clinch the 2011 state championship.
Despite being the heavy favorites to win the match, Flamengo struggled to find its rhythm, misconnecting many passes and misreading movements. Boavista appeared intimidated and nervous on the field and was unable to produce any serious offensive threat as they were focused on containing the Flamengo offense.
After a scoreless first half, Flamengo was able to score off a stopped ball. With a little theatrical help from Thiago Neves, the team was awarded a direct kick in the 71st minute. Team captain Ronaldinho sized up the shot and sent it perfectly over the heads of the Boavista wall of defenders, bending perfectly into the far right side of the goal. Keeper Thiago was helpless to defend the shot and could only watch as the ball sailed into the back of his net.
Ronaldinho's game-winning amounted to his first title with Flamengo. The goal was the athlete's second goal since arriving at Flamengo. The title is Flamengo's 19th Guanabara Cup and the performance this season tallied the team's seventh title while undefeated.
Flamengo will now focus on repeating its feat in the second half of the state championship, the Rio Cup. If Flamengo are unable to win the second half and clinch the 2011 title, the team will face the respective winner in a two-game series final. Flamengo begin its second half action on March 5 on the road against Olaria.