Once again the performance was not the most exciting, but Santos managed to fulfill its role and beat Ceará 1-0, at Vila Belmiro, in a direct game between teams fighting for access to the first division. The result left Peixe very close to confirming its return to the first division. Diego Pituca scored the only goal of the game.
With the result, Santos reached 59 points and remains at the top of Series B with five games remaining. Ceará, fifth placed, has 51 points and moved away from the G4.
Saints in front
The start of the game was already accelerated with the teams giving up space and Santos more present in the attacking field. Peixe scored high and had the ball, but slowly. Ceará, on the other hand, had difficulties even exchanging passes in attack. The first dangerous arrival was from the home team and ‘unintentionally’, in a frontal cross from Guilherme that went past everyone and goalkeeper Bruno Ferreira palmed it in fright.
Santos fans were angry at the slow attack, but the team was fatal. At 14, after a play on the left, Serginho sent a perfect cross and Diego Pituca, as a surprise element, arrived free to head hard and open the score. The game changed after the first goal, with Ceará having more time on the ball and looking for spaces in the Santos defense for a reaction.
Ceará lacked creativity, and only caused problems for Santos’ defense in the 25th minute, with light pressure that ended with a penalty call for touching the arm. Nothing was marked. Vozão’s attackers barely touched the ball and Peixe maintained control, creating little, but without taking risks.
Ceará managed to reverse possession of the ball, but exchanged passes far from the area and were only aggressive in Erick Pulga’s individual plays. Vozão’s first successful shot in the entire match was only in the 44th minute, when Lourenço hit a long-range free kick and Gabriel Brazão made a great save. Santos got scared at the end of the first half, but the score never changed.
Fish near the turn
The second half started with Santos very close to extending the score. At 4, after a good exchange of passes, Serginho finished strongly inside the area and Bruno Ferreira made a great save. On the other side, Ceará began to better integrate its attacks and create chances. In the first, Erick Pulga invaded the area in an individual play, finished high and Gabriel Brazão jumped to make a beautiful save.
The duel was even more open in the second stage and Ceará missed chances to draw. At 16, Lucas Rian was sent in from the right after an error with the ball and had everything he needed to score. However, he advanced too much and lost to the goalkeeper. Peixe tried to speed up the match when they had the ball and also started to have more defensive substitutions.
Ceará grew in production and began to suffocate, with its best arrivals through the game from above. At 26, Matheus Bahia had freedom after a pass on the left, made the perfect cross and Erick Pulga lost it in the small area when he was unable to head the ball straight. Vozão was almost at 33, when Lourenço took a free kick from the right, João Pedro headed well and Brazão went to the ground to make a spectacular save.
At 40, Santos almost killed the game with a beautiful counterattack. Guilherme was launched from the left, dribbled into the area and served Otero, who stopped at the goalkeeper after a header. Ceará went for final pressure trying to avoid defeat. At 45, Lourenço hit another free kick and got scared. The abafa was great in the seven minutes of stoppage time, but Peixe survived and took another important step towards promotion.
