For the Brasileirão, the team from the capital of Rio will return to the field only next Thursday, when at 7pm they will face Santos, in Vila Belmiro
With a lot of drama, Vasco is classified in the semi-finals of the 2026 Carioca Championship. On Saturday night, the Rio team returned to São Januário to face Volta Redonda, in the quarter-finals of the state competition, and after a 1-1 score in regulation time, they beat their opponents 5-3, on penalties.
With the result, Vasco is now preparing for the state semifinal dispute, in which they will face the winner of Fluminense x Bangu, which will face each other on Monday, at 6 pm, at Maracanã. Volta Redonda, whose main highlight was goalkeeper Avelino, is now preparing to compete in Series C of the Brazilian Championship. Before that, the team from Rio de Janeiro will compete in the Copa Rio, alongside the others eliminated in the quarter-finals.
For the Brasileirão, the team from the capital of Rio will only return to the field next Thursday, when at 7pm they will face Santos, in Vila Belmiro, in the fourth round.
Still trying to find their footing in the season, Vasco started the game, as usual, dominating possession of the ball, but without finding objectivity. On the other side, Volta Redonda bet on counterattacks, which almost worked in the ninth, when MV received the goal, but slipped when taking the shot.
However, the defense of the team led by Fernando Diniz, once again, faltered. At 27, after stealing the ball in midfield, Jean Victor threw it to Ygor Catatau, who took it from Cuesta and touched Léo Jardim’s exit to open the scoring away from home.
After the goal, Vasco continued to circle the opponent’s area, but without being able to reach the goal, stopping at the visiting team’s very well-positioned defense, which went into the break with an advantage.
Upon returning to the second half, Diniz’s team returned to boos and with changes, which had an effect. At six, Robert Renan headed out. At 14, Puma Rodríguez received the ball from Tchê Tchê, but free, he controlled the ball wrong and gave the ball to Avelino.
Meanwhile, the pressure from the home team paid off. At 21, Cuesta crossed to the head of Spinelli, who, with his first touch of the ball, sent it into the back of the goal and left everything equal on the scoreboard. And the turning point almost came at 23, when Andrés Gómez crossed and Rojas, with a volley, stopped in a miracle by Avelino.
The Volta Redonda goalkeeper saved another one in the 27th minute, when Brenner deflected a shot from Andrés Gómez, and on the rebound, the Colombian sent it out. In the final minutes, Vasco continued to attack, but once again failed in objectivity, and even created a great chance with a shot from Andrés Gómez, in the 48th minute, but Avelino caught another one and took the decision to penalties.
In the dispute, Rojas put Vasco ahead, Marquinhos sent him out, Tchê Tchê, Lucas Adell, Spinelli, Wagninho, David and Rafael Augusto did it in sequence, leaving the decision in the hands of Puma Rodríguez, who did not waste and put the team from São Januário in the semifinals.
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