Santos conceded a goal in the last minute of the game and was eliminated from the Campeonato Paulista by Novorizontino this Sunday (22). The match ended 2-1 for the interior team.
With the result, Novorizontino advances to the semifinals with the best campaign in the competition.
Juan Pablo Vojvoda’s team started the match very badly. The opponent scored in Santos’ field, who missed passes and failed to evolve.
Still, the game was lukewarm, and the first dangerous chance came in the 43rd minute, from Santos. Barreal found a beautiful pass for Gabigol, who shared it with the opposing goalkeeper. The ball fell to Neymar, who rolled it to Rony. The attacker finished, but Novorizontino’s defense took it off the line.
The home team reached their goal minutes later, with their first clear chance in the match. Neymar missed a pass in defense after a throw-in, Tavinho recovered the ball, crossed and Romulo just pushed it into the goal.
Santos had to attack in the second half, which created counterattack opportunities for the interior team. In one of them, at nine minutes, Robson came face to face with Gabriel Brazão, who saved.
But at 16 the visitors equalized. Igor Vinícius crossed, Gabigol crossed and the ball fell to Gabriel Bontempo, who finished first, into goalkeeper Jordi’s right corner.
From then on the game became busy, with both teams looking for the winning goal. Neymar almost scored after receiving a pass from Gabigol. Goalkeeper Jordi took the ball from his feet. On the other side, Novorizontino was scary with the dead ball. Oyama also almost scored with a shot from the edge of the box.
In the last play of the match, when the dispute seemed to be heading towards penalties, Vinicius Paiva crossed from the left and Santos’ defense only watched as Léo Naldi headed the ball home to eliminate the coastal team.
Very bad for the year, Santos returns to the field on Thursday (26), when they host Vasco, for the Brazilian Championship. The club has just one point after three matches played in the competition and is in the relegation zone.
