In a tight match and with one more player during the second half, Santos was unable to beat Vila Nova and only won one point.
This Thursday (18), the vice-leader new village received the leader Saints for the 16th round of series B, in a match that was worth first place of the competition. With one less player during part of the second half, the team from Goiás managed to hold off their opponents and both secured a point in the championship.
Just 5 minutes into the first half, forward Henrique Almeida received his first yellow card for a rough tackle on a Santos player. In the 10th minute, Santos’ first clear chance came with a header from Julio Furch, who shot wide. In response, five minutes later came Vila Nova’s first attempt with Elias, who received a pass from Henrique, but his shot went wide.
Serginho, at 18, received an excellent cross from Escobar and inside the area, missed and ended up going out. Peixe continued on the attack and at 22, Julio Furch headed and the ball hit the hand of the player from the Goiás team, the referee went to VAR but interpreted it as a normal play and continued the game.
At 39, Otero tried to surprise the goalkeeper with a free kick from the left side of the field, but his shot was poor. Then, in Vila Nova’s last dangerous move in the first half, it was Santos defender João Schmidt who almost opened the scoring by heading the ball into his own goal, forcing Gabriel Brazão to make a great save.
The second half started off lively. At the 4th minute, goalkeeper Brazão made the best save of the game when he blocked a shot from Henrique at close range. In response to the Goiás team’s shot, the first goal came. At the 9th minute, Guilherme crossed from the left, Serginho headed it to Furch who shot and scored the first goal of the match.
Otero, at 13, took a chance from outside the area and Dênis made a great save. With the Santos defense disorganized, Vila responded at 16, but Juan shot wide. The equalizer followed: Naninho took a corner and defender Jemmes headed the ball past Brazão, leaving no chance for him.
At 30 minutes, Henrique received his second yellow card after trying to kick the ball. On that occasion, he ended up kicking the Santos goalkeeper in the chest.
With one more player for more than 15 minutes, Peixe tried at 43 with João Schmidt and at 46 with Guilherme, but nothing changed. See some data from the match:
- Ball possession: Vila Nova 40% x 60% Santos
- Finalizations (correct): Vila Nova 9 (3); Santos 14 (3)
- Fouls committed: Vila Nova 11 x 5 Santos
- Successful passes (%): Vila Nova 295 (73%); Santos 455 (82%)
Santos remains the leader of the competition, with 29 points and cannot be overtaken by any team in the championship. Vila Nova continues to chase the leader, however, it runs the risk of losing second place to other teams.
In the next round, Santos will host Coritiba, while Vila Nova will travel to Campinas to face Ponte Preta.
Source: sportbuzz
I am William Jackson and I have a passion for sports journalism. With over 3 years of experience in the industry, I have worked in a variety of roles to improve the quality and accuracy of sports news coverage. As an author at Athletistic, I specialize in covering football news and providing comprehensive analysis for fans around the world.
