Botafogo drew goalless with Portuguesa, this Saturday, at the Estádio Luso-Brasileiro, for the first leg of the semi-final of the Rio Cup. Fogão, after a bureaucratic performance in the first half, improved in the final, but stopped at the goalkeeper Bruno and the crossbar.
The Taça Rio brings together fifth to eighth places in the qualifying phase of the Carioca Championship. In the other first leg of the semifinal, Nova Iguaçu and Audax drew 1-1.
After the frustration of not qualifying for the semi-finals in Carioca, Botafogo hit back in the Copa do Brasil and progressed to the next stage with a 7-1 loss to Brasiliense. A good performance against Portuguesa was therefore expected. The team fluctuated and showed slight improvement in the final round.
The second leg is scheduled for Raulino de Oliveira, in Volta Redonda, on Monday 27 at 8pm (Brasilia time). To be fifth in the qualifying stage, Fogão have the advantage of a draw in points earned and goal difference. Then you can draw the next game.
End of the match: Botafogo 0 x 0 Portuguesa.
📸 Vitor Silva / BFR pic.twitter.com/eGrebSOOHi
— Botafogo FR (@Botafogo) March 18, 2023
The duel between Portuguesa and Botafogo
Botafogo almost opened the scoring after two minutes. Cuesta activated Victor Sá. He crossed and hit the post. On the rebuttal, Tiquinho Soares finishes without too much force and Mota defends himself. The stove then began to have difficulty creating. The dead ball almost settled the matter. In the 22nd minute Eduardo kicks a free-kick with style, with danger, but wide.
The match was even tougher and with passing errors. Technically, the teams suffered. So the match dragged on without much emotion. The Portuguese, at 43, scared. João Paulo risked from distance and Lucas Perri saved in two halves.
Luís Castro soon made three changes on his way back to the second half. The Botafogo coach launched Lucas Fernandes, Lucas Piazon and Luís Henrique. Danilo Barbosa, Carlos Alberto and Victor Sá are gone.
Luís Henrique, two minutes on, got a rebound and took a chance from outside the box. The ball went right. On six, Lucas Fernandes kicked from the edge of the box. Bruno, who replaced Mota in the first half, flattened the finish.
In the 30th minute Tiquinho Soares receives from the left, advances and kicks with his right foot. Goalkeeper Bruno deflects the shot, which hits the post again. Then, in the 38th minute, Luís Henrique finishes after crossing Tiquinho, but stops on Bruno.
Botafogo also stamped the crossbar. In the 43rd minute, Lucas Fernandes receives from Tiquinho and tries from outside the area. The ball exploded on the crossbar. Thus, Fogão was scoreless with Portuguesa.
DATA SHEET
PORTUGUESE 0X0 BOTAFOGO
Local: Luso-Brazilian Stadium, Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
Date: 03/18/2023, Saturday
Time: 18 hours (from Brasilia)
Referee: Felipe da Silva Gonçalves Paludo
Assistants: Diego Luiz Couto Barcelos and Thiago Filemon Soares Pinto
Yellow paper: Joazi, Bruno, Feitosa and Matheus Santos (Portuguese); Eduardo, Adryelson and Luís Henrique (Botafogo).
PORTUGUESE: Motta (Bruno); Joazi (Willian), Matheus Santos, Lucas Santos and Yuri; Feitosa, Anderson Rosa, João Paulo (Wellington) and Emerson Carioca; Watson (Cafu) and Lucas Silva (Juninho). Technician: Felipe Surian.
BOTAFOGO: Luca Perri; Di Plácido, Adryelson, Cuesta and Hugo; Tchê Tchê, Danilo Barbosa (Lucas Fernandes) and Eduardo (Raí); Carlos Alberto (Lucas Piazon), Victor Sá (Luís Henrique) and Tiquinho Soares. Technician: Luis Castro.
Source: Terra
