Reigning Brazilian champions Flamengo kept their hopes of a second consecutive Serie A title alive on Saturday when they beat league leaders Atletico Mineiro 1-0 at the Maracana stadium in Rio. Flamengo started the day 13 points behind the runaway leaders but with two games in hand and that deficit was reduced to 10 thanks to a first-half goal from Michael.

The on-form striker seized on a knock down from Bruno Henrique and finished smartly to give Flamengo the lead after 26 minutes. Atletico had more of the ball but the home side closed them down with a solid defensive strategy in the second half to condemn Atletico to what was just their second league defeat in 21 games but ominously their second in their last three.

The Belo Horizonte club have not won the Brazilian league title since 1971 but have 10 games left to secure their second league flag.

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