Athletico’s first 45 minutes against Vasco were of overwhelming superiority. From the first minute, this Sunday, in Curitiba, at the Ligga Arena, the home team, which has not lost at home for nine months, took control of the match. The game was already difficult naturally, the team was already under pressure, but 15 minutes into the first half, What was bad got even worse.
Athletico-PR 1 x 0 Vasco | Best Moments | 5th round | Brasileirão 2024
Hugo Moura’s expulsion affected Vasco’s departure and the strategy of Rafael Paiva, the club’s interim. The coach bet on a change of scheme in relation to the game against Fortaleza: the 5-2-3 went away and the 4-3-3 from the initial rounds of the Brasileirão returned.
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— We needed to have greater control of the game with the 4-3-3. Defend well, but have good possession and look for attacks — said the Vasco coach.
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However, until Hugo Moura’s expulsion, Vasco was terrible on the field. Athletico had already finished three times with great danger — out with Canobbio, in the second minute, out with Pablo, in the third, and on the post with Erick, in the 10th.
In one of Vasco’s first moves in attack, the move came that conditioned the entire match. After a rebound from Athletico’s defense, the ball fell to Hugo Moura, free from marking. With a careless touch, the midfielder delivered the ball to Zapelli’s feet. Worse: when it was clear that he would be sent off if he fouled, he did so and received a red card.
15 minutes into the 1st half – direct red card from Hugo Moura from Vasco against Athletico-PR
With that, João Victor entered minutes later to reinforce the defense. Paulo Henrique became a midfielder on the right, and the defender played the role of right-back. When Athletico had possession, João Victor formed a defensive trio, and Paulo Henrique was the winger.
In the middle of the positions, in the 25th minute, PH abandoned Esquível’s marking on the right side, and the opposing full-back had complete freedom to cross for Erick to score Athletico’s goal.
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However, between Hugo Moura’s expulsion and Erick’s goal, Athletico Paranaense stopped twice at Léo Jardim’s post — with Zapelli and Pablo. In 25 minutes, the home team was one up, with three shots hitting the post and already 1-0 on the scoreboard.
The halftime statistics summarized the first half of the match: there were 12 shots from Athletico Paranaense and none from Vasco. The opening 45 minutes could end in a rout for the home team.
The second half started with a move that showed that things hadn’t changed that much. Zapelli finished from a long distance and sent the ball onto Léo Jardim’s post — the Paraná natives’ fourth in the game.
Despite the initial scare, Vasco threatened Athletico on two occasions. The first was David’s shot to the outside, but the best was with Paulo Henrique, who, after a pass from Vegetti, came face to face with Bento. The full-back finished over the Athletic goalkeeper.
If Léo Jardim had already shone with a save from Pablo’s free kick in the first half, Vasco’s goalkeeper returned to work on Cuello’s shot, which he was forced to make a good save. With two interventions from the Vasco goalkeeper and four balls hitting the post, it can be said that Vasco escaped suffering a defeat from Athletico.
After the arrival of Cuello, Athletico’s momentum decreased and the team left spaces in the midfield. Vasco, despite being inferior, began to occupy the attack more. David was the player who most tried to threaten the opponent’s goal, finishing three of the team’s six shots in the final stage. The striker, criticized at other times, has been one of the team’s best outfield players in the Brasileirão.
Vasco lost strength with the departure of Vegetti, who is the team’s technical reference at the front in the absence of Payet. The Argentine finished just once and scored, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Erick Marcus’ entry was not justified.
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For the first time, Vasco lost four of the first five rounds of the Brasileirão. This is not the worst start to the Brasileirão because in 2004, 2015 and 2019 the performance was the same or worse.
The next match against Vitória is essential for the Rio club to respond after four consecutive defeats — mainly due to the context: game in São Januário against a team that must fight at the bottom of the table. Vasco needs to do its part in these games, which was far from happening against Criciúma, in the last meeting with the fans at home.
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