Corinthians held Red Bull Bragantino in the last minutes and won 1-0 on the icy night (29), at Neo Química Arena, for the 24th round of the Brasileirão. Gustavo Mosquito scored the winning goal, Cássio was a hero in the final minutes, and Alvinegro reduced the distance to eight points to lead the competition.
The victory rehabilitates Corinthians after three setbacks in a row in the Brasileirão. With 42 points, it is eight behind the leader Palmeiras, maintains its position in the G4 and on Sunday (4) has a direct confrontation against Internacional, which has the same score. Bragantino, in turn, has gone four rounds without winning and is in the middle of the table.
Corinthians performance: Unnecessary scares
It was a solid 30 minutes until Mosquito’s goal, Corinthians’ best period in the game. The team controlled the ball, frequented the area and could have scored earlier if they had been more careful with the last pass. In general, it bothered Bragantino a lot and stole balls close to the area, but he gave too much space when he couldn’t get the tackle right away. He suffocated in the second half, when he stopped working the ball from one side to the other.
Bragantino’s performance: Lack of whim to equalize
Closed, Bragantino preferred to start playing more without the ball and only changed his posture when he was behind on the scoreboard. The team missed simple passes, some dangerous, but managed to take danger and would have better luck if they didn’t miss the chances created. There was volume of play, but lacked whim.
It went well: Fausto Vera simplifies
He owned the midfield, making the complicated look simple. He always passes forward, making the move evolve. He also calls the game and disarms opposing pressure. In the first half, he cleared a ball out with a body dribble. Honorable mention for Du Queiroz, who had more freedom, appeared more and was just not the best on the field because he stopped on the post in the bid that could have extended the score.
Sorry: Luan Cândido is below
Corinthians’ goal was behind his back, as it narrowed the scoring and left Mosquito completely free inside the area. In fact, he suffered too much to mark the white-and-white winger. In the second half, he made a wrong move that left the opponent alone to cross, but he was lucky that the Corinthians player missed.
Corinthians controls and creates chances
From the beginning, Corinthians imposed its rhythm and took over the midfield to put pressure on. There were several dangerous crosses, pressure on Bragantino’s ball output and tackles already close to the area. He pushed Bragantino so much that in a first-half move he had to attack eight opponents inside the area. Still, he created chances: Yuri Alberto missed a good opportunity in the 21st minute; Mosquito scored at 30; and Du Queiroz took danger in an individual play at 48.
Mosquito insists until opening the scoreboard
Gustavo Mosquito was not the best on the field until the goal, but he was already showing up a lot. In one shot, he fumbled alone with the ball and let it go through the side; in another, he cleaned up the marking well at speed but gave a very weak pass at the time of the assist. In the 30th minute, after a move by Róger Guedes, the rebound was left clean for him to straighten his body, choose the corner and put Corinthians in front.
Bragantino is sharp and takes danger
The visiting team spent half an hour more defending than attacking, but became bolder after conceding the goal. He had already been in danger with Eric Ramires and especially Artur, who almost opened the scoring in a cavadinha, and the disadvantage gave Bragantino more urgency to come out from behind. The best move ended up being annulled for offside, but it was a scare like that: Cássio had to make a great defense face to face with Carlos Eduardo.
Roles are reversed in the second half
If in the first half Corinthians had more of the ball and Bragantino waited for the counterattacks, in the second the situation was reversed. The disadvantage made the visiting team attack more, and the game became faster, running from one area to another. Alvinegro accelerated whenever possible and had two counterattacks to make the second, but Du Queiroz stopped at the crossbar, and Yuri Alberto kicked badly.
Pressure from Bragantino makes Cássio a hero
Corinthians did not solve the game, took its main names from the field (Renato and Róger) and could no longer keep the ball. In this scenario, Bragantino took the lead. He attacked in desperation, with crosses in a row, but it worked to become the protagonist of the game. Artur had another great chance in the area, cleared the play, but sent it out; then Luan Cândido headed an unpretentious ball, and Cássio turned to defend. The shirt 12 became a hero in the 45th minute of the second half, in another header by Luan Cândido that required great defense.
Renato, Róger and Yuri get help
In the last games, Corinthians’ decisive trio had combined for the best chances, one always looking for the other, and with some success. This time they had more help: Mosquito tried hard, Du Queiroz hit the post after Róger Guedes’ pass, and Fagner was a little more productive offensively. Renato Augusto had another good performance, while Yuri Alberto not so much, having even lost a goal in the second half.
Cold doesn’t empty the Arena
Circumstances diminished the appeal of the match, but Neo Química Arena received a good audience: 36,484 people came to witness the game at 9:30 pm on a Monday, with a temperature of 8º C. The game was originally supposed to take place last Saturday (27), but was postponed by two days by decision of the CBF.
DATASHEET
CORINTHIANS 1 x 0 RED BULL BRAGANTINO
Competition: Brazilian Championship, 24th round
Date and time: August 29, 2022, Monday at 21:30 (Brasília time)
Place: Neo Química Arena, in São Paulo (SP)
Referee: Wilton Pereira Sampaio (Fifa/GO)
Auxiliaries: Cristhian Passos Sorence (GO) and Luanderson Lima dos Santos (BA)
VAR: Thiago Duarte Peixoto (SP)
Yellow Cards: Du Queiroz (Corinthians); Raul (RB Bragantino)
Goal: Gustavo Mosquito, 30 minutes into the first half
CORINTHIANS: Cassius; Fagner, Gil, Balbuena and Lucas Piton (Fábio Santos); Du Queiroz (Bruno Méndez), Fausto Vera and Renato Augusto (Ramiro); Gustavo Mosquito (Cantillo), Róger Guedes (Mateus Vital) and Yuri Alberto. Technician: Victor Pereira
RB BRAGANTINO: Cleiton; Aderlan (Andrés Hurtado), Léo Ortiz, Natan and Luan Cândido; Raul (Miguel), Lucas Evangelista (Jadsom) and Eric Ramires; Artur, Carlos Eduardo (Sorriso) and Hyoran (Alerrandro). Technician: Maurício Barbieri