Without being brilliant, Grêmio beat Sport and secures a spot in the top four.
With one goal in each half, Tricolor is more efficient and wins again at the Arena.
By Nato Sangali, from Futnet
Grêmio beat Sport 2-0 on Wednesday night at the Arena. The match was valid for the 27th round of the Brazilian Championship. With the victory, the Tricolor will sleep in the G4 (top four) at least tonight. Tomorrow, they hope Atlético/MG loses against Fluminense at the Maracanã.
The Gaúchos reach 46 points and remain in 4th place, while Leão stays in 9th position with 36 points, but sees other teams closing in and the dream of fighting for a Libertadores spot becoming increasingly distant.
In the next round, this weekend, Felipão's team will travel to São Paulo to face Palmeiras at the Pacaembu stadium at 21 pm (Brasilia time) on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sport will host Vitória at 18:30 pm (Brasilia time) at Ilha do Retiro, but on Sunday.
The Game
Coach Felipão decided to bring on striker Fernandinho and midfielder Alán Ruiz, replacing Wallace and Luan. Meanwhile, Eduardo Baptista's team aimed to exploit counter-attacks and allow Grêmio to dictate the game.
The first opportunity fell to the visitors. At six minutes, Rhodolfo made a poor pass and Geromel had to commit a foul to stop the Sport striker's advance. Neto Baiano took the free kick, Tiago got a slight touch on the ball, which then hit the post before going out. Grêmio responded at 11 minutes with a cross into the area; Barcos was grabbed, but Marcelo de Lima waved play on.
Grêmio dominated the match, with greater ball possession and control of the game's actions. Sport, on the other hand, focused more on counter-attacks. At 26 minutes, goalkeeper Tiago was called into action again after a header from inside the area by defender Patric. Even so, Grêmio was slightly superior until, at 29 minutes, Barcos made a good play, the ball hit the Sport defense and fell to Alán Ruiz on the edge of the penalty area, who unleashed a powerful shot, giving Magrão no chance. 1-0.
Sport felt the blow and three minutes later, in a good play by Barcos and Fernandinho, the team from Rio Grande do Sul almost extended their lead. At the end of the...
In the first half, Tricolor missed another opportunity with another cross into the box, where Geromel appeared behind the defense.
and he shot at point-blank range, but Magrão made a great save.
Returning for the second half, coach Eduardo Baptista pushed the team further forward, making two substitutions. Sport applied pressure early on, worrying Felipão. Full-back Patric almost scored in the third minute with a header. The ball went just wide of the post. After that, Grêmio valued possession and waited to capitalize on the opponent's mistakes. Then, in a cross into the Grêmio area, goalkeeper Tiago punched the ball away, it fell to Giuliano, who had come on for Alán Ruiz. The number 88 delivered a perfect pass to Dudu, who shook off his marker, dribbled past Magrão, and extended the lead.
By this point, Grêmio had already lost their captain Rhodolfo, who felt pain in his knee after a collision with goalkeeper Tiago. Bressan came on in his place and, after a rebound, took a powerful shot from the edge of the area, but Magrão made another good save. A minute earlier, in a well-worked move by the Pernambuco team, Ananias took a weak shot straight at the goalkeeper.
In the end, Marcelo Grohe's replacement, who is on duty with the national team, made three spectacular saves. The first was after a cross-shot from Patric inside the area. The second was on a bicycle kick attempt by Felipe Azevedo, and the third was after a cross from the right, where Diego Souza headed the ball point-blank.
The Gaúchos reach 46 points and remain in 4th place, while Leão stays in 9th position with 36 points, but sees other teams closing in and the dream of fighting for a Libertadores spot becoming increasingly distant.
In the next round, this weekend, Felipão's team will travel to São Paulo to face Palmeiras at the Pacaembu stadium at 21 pm (Brasilia time) on Saturday. Meanwhile, Sport will host Vitória at 18:30 pm (Brasilia time) at Ilha do Retiro, but on Sunday.
The Game
Coach Felipão decided to bring on striker Fernandinho and midfielder Alán Ruiz, replacing Wallace and Luan. Meanwhile, Eduardo Baptista's team aimed to exploit counter-attacks and allow Grêmio to dictate the game.
The first opportunity fell to the visitors. At six minutes, Rhodolfo made a poor pass and Geromel had to commit a foul to stop the Sport striker's advance. Neto Baiano took the free kick, Tiago got a slight touch on the ball, which then hit the post before going out. Grêmio responded at 11 minutes with a cross into the area; Barcos was grabbed, but Marcelo de Lima waved play on.
Grêmio dominated the match, with greater ball possession and control of the game's actions. Sport, on the other hand, focused more on counter-attacks. At 26 minutes, goalkeeper Tiago was called into action again after a header from inside the area by defender Patric. Even so, Grêmio was slightly superior until, at 29 minutes, Barcos made a good play, the ball hit the Sport defense and fell to Alán Ruiz on the edge of the penalty area, who unleashed a powerful shot, giving Magrão no chance. 1-0.
Sport felt the blow and three minutes later, in a good play by Barcos and Fernandinho, the team from Rio Grande do Sul almost extended their lead. At the end of the...
In the first half, Tricolor missed another opportunity with another cross into the box, where Geromel appeared behind the defense.
and he shot at point-blank range, but Magrão made a great save.
Returning for the second half, coach Eduardo Baptista pushed the team further forward, making two substitutions. Sport applied pressure early on, worrying Felipão. Full-back Patric almost scored in the third minute with a header. The ball went just wide of the post. After that, Grêmio valued possession and waited to capitalize on the opponent's mistakes. Then, in a cross into the Grêmio area, goalkeeper Tiago punched the ball away, it fell to Giuliano, who had come on for Alán Ruiz. The number 88 delivered a perfect pass to Dudu, who shook off his marker, dribbled past Magrão, and extended the lead.
By this point, Grêmio had already lost their captain Rhodolfo, who felt pain in his knee after a collision with goalkeeper Tiago. Bressan came on in his place and, after a rebound, took a powerful shot from the edge of the area, but Magrão made another good save. A minute earlier, in a well-worked move by the Pernambuco team, Ananias took a weak shot straight at the goalkeeper.
In the end, Marcelo Grohe's replacement, who is on duty with the national team, made three spectacular saves. The first was after a cross-shot from Patric inside the area. The second was on a bicycle kick attempt by Felipe Azevedo, and the third was after a cross from the right, where Diego Souza headed the ball point-blank.