With Gabigol expelled, Santos beats Vitória and leaves the Z4 of the Brasileirão

Santos defeated Vitória 3-1, this Saturday (30), in a match in the 18th round of the Brasileirão. The result in Vila Belmiro secured the black and white team in 15th position, outside the Z4 of the national competition.

Miguelito opened the scoring in favor of Peixe. Then, in the second half, Álvaro Barreal expanded with a great goal. Gabigol scored the home team's third, but ended up being sent off the field for making an obscene gesture. Finally, Renê scored on the visiting team's side.

With the triumph, Santos reached the mark of 21 points, one more than Vasco, the first club within the relegation zone of the Brazilian Championship. The São Paulo team will only return to the pitch after the break for the World Cup, where they will face Botafogo away from home.

Vitória, in turn, is 12th in the tournament, with 22 points. Unlike its opponent, Leão takes to the field next Tuesday (2), in the final of the Copa do Nordeste. At 9pm (Brasília time), the Bahian team visits Fortaleza.

The match
After a balanced start, Vitória had its first opportunity in the 14th minute, with an attempt by midfielder Baralhas, who sent it out. Shortly afterwards, Santos midfielder Miguelito received the ball and took a risk from the edge of the area. The ball deflected off the mark and ended up in the back of the net.

Undeterred by the goal conceded, Leão almost equalized at the 23-minute mark. Center forward Renê started at speed, passed the defense and made a great save from goalkeeper Gabriel Brazão. Afterwards, the visiting team tried another shot from distance, with midfielder Zé Vitor, who went out.

When the break came around, Vitória faced danger in the first minute. Midfielder Matheuzinho tried to cover Brazão and sent it over Peixe's goal. It didn't take long for Matheuzinho himself to have another opportunity, now saved by the opposing goalkeeper.

However, it was Santos who scored once again at Vila Belmiro. Winger Álvaro Barreal took advantage of a ball that was poorly cleared by the Bahian defense and hit a beautiful shot to expand.

In the 11th minute, midfielder Gabriel Bontempo recovered the ball in attack and rolled it to Miguelito. The Bolivian crossed just enough for center forward Gabigol to score with a header: 3-0 in favor of Peixe. However, when celebrating the goal, the attacker made an obscene gesture by putting his hand on his private parts and ended up being sent off the field.

With one more player, Leão launched an attack and managed to pull one back in the 29th minute. Forward Diego Tarzia crossed at the second post and Renê headed it into the corner to make it 3-1.

Vitória's center forward even tried a bicycle kick at the 43-minute mark and hit the crossbar. At 50, Renê came face to face with Brazão and stopped at the rival archer. For the rest of the time, Santos held off the pressure from the Bahians and confirmed their triumph at home.

CBF approves accounts for 2025 with losses of more than R$180 million

Source: CNN