Corinthians saw the script of the last matches repeat itself on Wednesday night. At Mineirão, the black and white team, playing mostly with substitutes, did not have a convincing performance, but showed strength to seek a 1-1 draw and, narrowly, did not leave the field as winners, against Tite’s Cruzeiro, in the fourth round of the Brazilian Championship.
The match had an illustrious spectator in a box. The coach of the Brazilian team, Carlo Ancelotti, watched the duel at the stadium in the capital of Minas Gerais.
Corinthians has their seventh point in the national tournament and continues to fight at the top of the table. Cruzeiro, unstable, has just two points and is in the relegation zone
Corinthians’ preference for competing for the state title in relation to an initial round of the Brasileirão and the use of an alternative team in Belo Horizonte is understandable. However, the sequence of limited performances by the black and white team draws attention. There are three games being inferior to the opponent most of the time. Opponents of different calibers: Athletico-PR, Portuguesa and Cruzeiro.
Willingness or believing in comebacks will not always be enough to win titles. On the ball, at the moment, Corinthians are in debt and tonight they counted on an expulsion to find themselves on the field and achieve a draw.
Corinthians now turns its attention to the Paulistão semi-finals. On Saturday, at 8:30 pm, the black and white team visits Novorizontino, at the Jorge Ismael de Biasi Stadium. Cruzeiro faces Pouso Alegre in the second leg of the Minas Gerais Championship semi-final. The first leg ended with a 2-1 triumph. The game is scheduled for Saturday, at 6:30 pm, at Mineirão.
The first goal of the game didn’t take long to arrive. After just 9 minutes, Cruzeiro made a good move on the right. Matheus Pereira was quicker than his teammates and the Corinthians markers, he started and finished the play. The midfielder carried the ball from the edge of the area to the crescent and filled his foot to put the celestial team in advantage with a cross shot.
The match remained warm throughout the first half until at 39, Cruzeiro found the net with another play by Matheus Pereira, this time completed by Kaio Jorge. However, the move was challenged by the referee due to the attacker being offside.
On the way back from the break, Dorival removed another Corinthians starter: Breno Bidon. The change made Cruzeiro feel even more comfortable in the game in search of expanding the score.
From the 25th minute onwards, Corinthians tried to take control of the game and control possession of the ball. Dorival Júnior put Memphis in the game. The Dutchman gave new fluidity to the black and white team.
At 35, Cruzeiro native William tried to stop Allan’s progress down the left wing and committed a foul. As he already had a yellow card, the full-back received a second card and was sent off. In the next move, Corinthians had a corner in their favor. Garro crossed the ball for João Pedro Tchoca, with a header, to equalize the score, at 37.
With a numerical advantage on the field, Corinthians started to pile up chances to turn the game around. But limited time prevented the match from ending with a Corinthians triumph.
*Estadão Content
