Fortaleza went to Almeidão, in João Pessoa, to face Botafogo/PB in the fifth round of the Copa do Nordeste.
THE GAME!
In a balanced first half, Fortaleza started the game trying to put pressure on the hosts. The home side got into the game as the minutes went by and began to attack Fortaleza, who fielded a mixed team, with the attack led by Pedro Rocha.
At the 28th minute of the first half, in a beautiful free-kick from midfield, the number 9 of the Botafogo team, Pipico, opened the scoring for the home side, setting the Botafogo/PB fans on fire. However, in the next attack, Fortaleza equalized with Yago Pikachu, in the 30th minute of the first half, after a beautiful triangulation through the Fortaleza midfield, the ball was left on the edge of the box for Yago Pikachu to hit a cross and tie the game at Almeidão.
In the return for the second half, Botafogo/PB came back with a change from the team that had started the match. The second half began with Fortaleza having a lot of possession and passing the ball around between their defenders, with a lot of crosses from the Leão do Picí full-backs, leading to danger for Botafogo/PB goalkeeper Dalton. Until the 10th minute of the second half, when Pedro Rocha put Fortaleza ahead, but the linesman signaled that the Leão do Picí attack was offside. For most of the second half, Fortaleza kept the ball, trying to find spaces in Botafogo/PB’s defense, while the home side tried to use their speed to get on the counter-attack and threaten the goal of Santos, Fortaleza’s goalkeeper.
As the second half wore on, Vojvoda brought on the team’s starting players, such as Lucero, Machuca and Marinho, to try and regain the dominance they had gained at the start of the second half. And although the goal didn’t come, “Laion” went on to dominate Botafogo’s defensive field, once again causing danger to Dalton’s goal, but the score culminated in a 1-1 draw at Almeidão, in João Pessoa/PB.
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A draw that doesn’t help either team. Botafogo/PB are in 5th place in Group A of the Copa do Nordeste, with 8 points from 5 matches. Fortaleza, on the other hand, are in 2nd place in Group B of the competition, also with 8 points from 5 matches.
NEXT MATCHES!
Botafogo/PB return to the field this Sunday (10) and face Sousa in the Paraibano Championship, at 16:00, Brasília time. Fortaleza face Maracanã, away from home, in the first leg of the Cearense Championship semi-final, also on Sunday (10), at 17:00 Brasília time.
