Grêmio draws with ABC and qualifies for the Copa do Brasil

This Thursday, the 27th, Grêmio received ABC, from Natal, for the second leg of the Third Phase of the Copa do Brasil. As they won the first leg 2-0, Tricolor only needed to manage the result to qualify for the round of 16 and to make things even calmer, the Potiguar team entered the field with a mixed team, since it is prioritizing its campaign in Serie B.

However, no one was expecting the visiting team to surprise and open the scoring in the 20th minute of the first half. With the difference reduced, ABC got excited and started to play on an equal footing with Grêmio, which, in turn, showed a very bad performance on the field. However, in the end, Tricolor got the tie and advanced to the next phase of the Copa do Brasil.

1st half

Grêmio started with more possession of the ball, but suffered a hard blow, still in the 20th minute, when Matheus Anjos opened the scoring for ABC. The midfielder had a good match with Daniel and, even though he was off balance, he shot from the edge of the area and sent it into the corner, with no chance of defense for Gabriel Grando.

Time passed and even managing to keep the ball, Tricolor found it very difficult to create clear goal chances. Grêmio’s only chance of danger in the first half came only in the 44th minute, when Zinho invaded the area, made a beautiful cut and crossed for Cristaldo, who hit a beautiful bicycle, but ended up sending it out. 1-0 at the end of the first half.

Restart the game! LET’S GO, TRICOLOR!#GRExABC#CopaDoBrasil2023 🇪🇪 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ pic.twitter.com/EkRWQ044KM

— Grêmio FBPA (@Gremio) April 28, 2023

2nd TIME

The second stage started the same way the first had ended: with Grêmio finding it difficult to create goal chances. As time went by, the home team improved at times and even endangered the goal of goalkeeper Simão. As in the 17th minute, when Suárez gave Habraão a beautiful half-moon invading the area and finished off the goalkeeper, who managed to save with his face.

The best chance of the second half was for ABC, in the 40th minute. Wallace crossed from the right, the ball deflected off the mark and fell to striker Felipe Garcia, who had time to kill in the chest and send a volleyed shot that ended up stamping the crossbar.

The game remained tense in the final minutes, until at 48, in a counterattack, Luis Suárez received from Bitello, won the tackle from Luiz Gustavo and played for Everton Galdino, who pulled to the left and hit a beautiful shot to tie the game. 1 to 1 on the scoreboard and Grêmio qualified for the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil.

---