Cruzeiro and Corinthians played a balanced match this Sunday (7), the first stage of the final of the Brazilian Women’s Championship. In front of 19,165 fans at Arena Independência, in Belo Horizonte, the teams drew 2-2 and reach the last game, to be played next Sunday (14) at the Neo Chemistry Arena, in São Paulo, on an equal foot.
The visitors came out, pressing from the first ball and finding the bottom of the net with Gi Fernandes just after 5 minutes. The shock woke up Cruzeiro, who began to command the ball more until marked, with a header from Marília on the busy exit of goalkeeper Nicole.
The rest of the stage had a good chance for both teams, and Cruzeiro’s goalkeeper Camila had to make multiple hard defenses to hold the draw.
In the return of the locker rooms the balance remained, with less chance created until, at 29, crossing Tamires found Gabi Zanotti inside the area. The Corinthians striker killed the bid with a volley and celebrated the front.
The advantage of the alvinegro team, however, lasted. Four minutes later, Isabela did hers and left everything the same.
At the end of the match, players from both teams complained a lot about a problem with VAR (video referee). The system, used for remote checking in the field, was offline for part of the second half.
Corinthians, six times champion of the tournament, dispute their final ninth. After finishing the group stage in second place, he eliminated Bahia and Sao Paulo in the knockout and now will have the opportunity to defend the title once again at home.
Already Cruzeiro arrives for the first time in the final of the Brazilian, being the first team to reach this stage. The 2025 season in the national tournament is the best in the team’s history, which had 15 group stage wins and only one defeat – justice for Corinthians.
Tickets for the return match will start selling earlier this week, says the São Paulo team. The game is scheduled for 10:30.
