By Robbie Blakeley, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Flamengo and Vasco picked up three points in the fifth round of the Campeonato Carioca yesterday to take the top two spots in the table. Flamengo thrashed Macaé in the afternoon before Vasco edged past a reserve Botafogo side in the first Carioca clássico of the year.
Striker Hernane scored four goals as Flamengo beat Macaé 5-2 in Volta Redonda. The rout put Flamengo back top of the state league with thirteen points from five matches.
For Hernane, the club’s leading scorer last year, this was the perfect preparation prior to Fla’s Copa Libertadores opener next week. Macaé had the chance to take the lead when Marquinho was felled by Léo Moura inside the penalty area.
Yet Marco Goiano saw his spot-kick saved by Felipe. Macaé were punished further by two goals from Hernane in ten minutes.
Marquinho then pulled one back but Hernane completed his hat-trick just before the interval to make it 3-1 to Flamengo. And he picked up where he left off after the break, netting his and Flamengo’s fourth seven minutes after the restart.
The game petered out after that but there was time for two more goals in the closing stage. Waldir jinked into the area and curled an effort past Felipe to score Macaé’s second, before Negueba’s drive from the edge of the area rounded off the goal fest.
A second half header from Thalles gave Vasco a 1-0 win over Botafogo at the Maracanã Stadium. The Cruz-Maltino were the better side but Botafogo only had a second string out in anticipation of their Copa Libertadores preliminary round second leg tie against Deportivo Quito this week.
The win puts Vasco in second, two points behind Flamengo. They have scored eleven goals without conceding in their last three outings.
Campeonato Carioca Round Five Results in Full:
Madureira 3-0 Audax
Volta Redonda 1-1 Friburguense
Bangu 0-1 Fluminense
Bonsucesso 0-2 Nova Iguaçu
Flamengo 5-2 Macaé
Resende 3-3 Boavista
Cabofriense 2-1 Duque de Caxias
Vasco 1-0 Botafogo
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