It didn’t take long at all before the game sprang into life. With only two minutes gone on the clock, Diego Souza already opened the scoring and it looked like it was going to be an easy stroll for the Imortal Tricolor.
Gremio built on their goal and continued to create more chances. 18 minutes later, Maicon doubled their advantage and it surely looked like they were set for a win.
But there was a brave and resolute Novo Hamburgo waiting to pounce back. On Grêmio’s mistakes, Anilado reacted and leveled the scoring in the first half too. Zé Mário took a hard foul to take a shot in the 31st minute and Kayron took advantage of a play created on top of a mistake by Matheus Henrique seven minutes later to level the tie.
Gremio restarted the second half looking to get an advantage back again. Diego Souza saw a goal cancelled and then connected properly to a cross minutes later. Gremio looked like they were going to win it until Jean Pyerre conceded a penalty in the 80th minute. Novo Hamburgo scored and leveled the tie once again.
After missing a lot of chances in the game, Luciano redeemed himself and capitalized on a defensive error in the last minute to seal the victory.
Gremio will now face Inter in the first leg of the Campeonato Gaúcho final next Wednesday, at the Arena, probably at 21.30. However, the city of Porto Alegre still needs to release the venue for which the second leg is scheduled to hold at.
