Sylvinho did not get the debut he had hoped for. The new Corinthians coach was defeated by Atlético-GO at the Neo Qumica Arena on Sunday night in the first round of the Brazilian Championship. It was a game marred by mistakes from Timão.
Zé Roberto scored the match-winning goal for Dragão while still in the first half. The visitors were able to hold on to their lead thanks to goalkeeper Fernando Miguel, who saved a penalty and a rebound from Mateus Vital.
Atletico-GO were full of confidence against one of the country’s top clubs away from home. They were at ease on the pitch from the start of the game.
They were superior for the majority of the first half, particularly in the opening minutes of the game, when João Paulo put the ball into the back of the net in the 10th minute, but the goal was appropriately cancelled by the referee for offside.
The goal later came in the 44th minutes, as Joao Paulo who missed several chances himself, assisted Zé Roberto to make it 1-0 before the beak.
The return of the second half did not help Corinthians’ situation. Timão took their time to create pressure on the opponent without making any replacements during the halftime break. But Atletico were relentless and almost doubled when Luan tried an effort and threatened to score.
However, Atlético began to demonstrate a greater proclivity for counterattacking as time went on. They brought on Araos to make their game plan more effective.
Some couple of minutes later, Corinthians gained a big chance at a comeback. Gustavo Mosquito was brought down by Natanael in the goal area, winning a penalty. In an interesting twist, Fernando Miguel stood up and saved the spot kick taken by Mateus Vital and also stopped a rebound to keep the lead.
On Wednesday, the two teams will meet again on the pitch, this time around for the Copa do Brasil, also at the Neo Qumica Arena.
For their next league outing, Atlético-GO welcomes Sao Paulo this Saturday, while Corinthians visits América-MG on Sunday.
