Thanks to the goals of Vitor Roque (12) and Jose Lopez (10), O Verdao had surged to the summit after looking out of the title race just a few weeks ago.
Flamengo's seven dropped points
Flamengo's draws against Vasco da Gama and Cruzeiro, and their loss to Bahia meant O Fla had dropped seven points in the five games leading up to Sunday's match, whilst Palmeiras had won four of their previous five to see them overtake their rivals.
Giorgian de Arrascaeta's performances had been crucial for Flamengo all season, with the striker's 14 goals, the second highest in the league, keeping his side in with a chance of the title.
Unbeaten in 18 Serie A home matches dating back to October 2024 against Juventude, O Fla were aiming to continue the run against a Palmeiras outfit that had eight wins, two draws, and two losses from their away matches in the league this season.
Palmeiras hit by an early sucker punch
With three shots at goal in the opening nine minutes, it was obvious that the visitors weren't there just to make up the numbers, however, they were hit by a sucker punch in the 10th minute as de Arrascaeta broke the offside trap and fired home with Flamengo's first shot of the game.
When opening the scoring, the hosts had avoided defeat in their previous 32 league matches so it was potentially going to be a long afternoon from the visitors.
However, they soon silenced a raucous home support when Vitor Roque sent a towering header past a flailing Agustin Rossi in the 24th minute, after a period of sustained pressure from O Verdao.
That meant a fourth successive league game the striker had scored in (five goals in total), which was his longest streak since a run of five matches from mid-June 2023 to mid-July.
Unable to build on the equaliser, and with Emerson Royal providing notable defensive cover for his team (including winning nine of his 13 one-on-one duels by the end of the game), the pendulum swung back in favour of the hosts.
Two Flamengo goals in three minutes
As the match edged towards half-time, a swift break down Palmeiras' left-side saw Pedro felled by a challenge from Bruno Fuchs, leaving the official with no alternative than to whistle for the spot-kick.
Jorginho, always so reliable from 12 yards, made no mistake for his first league goal of the season.
Worse was to follow for the visitors just three minutes later when de Arrascaeta returned the assist for Pedro to run through and drive the ball home.
De Arrascaeta's 12th assist in Serie A put him atop the charts, where he can also be found for goals scored (15), and the game was now very much Flamengo's to lose.
The visitors remained on the front foot as three shots before the half-time whistle (two on target) showed, but Flamengo's record of W10, D1, L0 in Serie A this season (and 29 matches undefeated overall - W26, D3) when leading at half-time, will have been a sobering thought in the away dressing room.
Palmeiras weren't going quietly
Still O Verdao took the game to their hosts, having another six shots at goal after the break before Flamengo had one of their own just after the hour mark, by which point there had also been a flurry of substitutions.
Rossi was continuously called into action, making five saves in the match as the final 20 minutes approached.
Felipe Anderson's 90.3% pass completion was helping to ensure that the visitors made a game of it, and Palmeiras' 15 total shots and six on target by the 75th minute were both higher then their season average, whilst their 67.6% possession saw them dominating the latter stages of the match.
If Flamengo were going to remain ahead and win the game, they were certainly going to have to earn the three points.
Red card adds to Palmeiras woes
Shots continued to rain down on Rossi's goal, and the only surprise was that it took until stoppage time for Gustavo Gomez to bag Palmeiras' second.
To add insult to injury, Joaquin Piquerez received a straight red card in the 96th-minute for foul and abusive language.
Flamengo's win means they are 16 league games unbeaten against Palmeiras (W8, D8), and both sides now find themselves on 61 points, five ahead of Cruzeiro in third and, importantly, 15 ahead of Botafogo in fifth in the race for qualifcation to the Copa Libertadores.
Flamengo's industry trumped Palmeiras' attacking intent
When Palmeiras look back on this game, they'll wonder how they didn't win it.
20 shots at goal compared to just eight for Flamengo, nine on target (four for the hosts), 14 crosses to three, eight corners to one, 427 passes to 405... the visitors were better in almost every aspect of play.
Perhaps the answer could be found in Flamengo's industry, given that only O Verdao's Fuchs made more tackles (five) than the top five players in this regard from the home side - Leo Ortiz, Emerson Royal, Jorginho, Luiz Araujo and Saul Niguez.
It was a similar story in terms of ball recovery, with only Piquerez and Anderson emerging with any credit for the visitors.
Ultimately, Flamengo's accuracy in front of goal took the game away from Palmeiras, and the result certainly sets things up nicely for the remainder of the season.
