Grêmio suffers, but eliminates ABC and is in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil

It was more difficult than expected, but Grêmio secured a place in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil, this Thursday, by drawing 1-1 with ABC, at the Arena, in Porto Alegre. The team from Rio Grande do Sul continues in the competition because it had won 2-0 in Natal. Renato Gaúcho’s team will find out their next opponent on Tuesday, when the CBF draw will take place.

Supported by the good advantage obtained in the first leg, Grêmio started the game on top of ABC, distributing its moves on the sides, mainly on the left side with Diogo Barbosa and Zinho. Luis Suárez, isolated in front, barely caught the ball. On several occasions, the Uruguayan left the area to try to participate more in the game.

ABC, in turn, adopted the ‘sniper’ stance and tried to be quick when they had the ball at their feet, betting on the talent of striker Matheus Anjos, author of beautiful dribbles.

Such boldness was rewarded in the 20th minute. Matheus Anjos matched with Daniel and beat Gabriel Grando: 1-0 for ABC.

The goal conceded destabilized Grêmio, which showed no patience to look for the best option in the attack. The team from Rio Grande do Sul opted to lift balls in the area and facilitated the work of the Potiguar defense.

Without many goalscoring possibilities, the move that most motivated the Grêmio crowd was in the 44th minute, with Cristaldo, who risked a bicycle kick, after Zinho’s cross, and narrowly missed.

The second half was played in a tense manner, with both teams making many errors in the passes. The loose marking in the midfield provided spaces for the creation of moves, but the finalizations were flawed.

At 17 minutes, the most plastic move of the match. Luis Suárez, with a protection on his head because of a cut, went past two markers and tapped to Simão’s good save. Grêmio kept up the pressure and Cristaldo barely missed a draw, at 21.

The last 15 minutes were full of pressure from Grêmio, who had more impetus to seek a draw than ABC to try to score the goal that would take the decision for the place in the round of 16 to penalties.

But at 39 and 40 minutes, Felipe Garcia had two great opportunities to score ABC’s second goal. In the first, he appeared free in the Grêmio area and sent a bomb to Gabriel Grando’s defense. In the second, the attacker hit the crossbar, after a total failure by the defense from Rio Grande do Sul.

The punishment came in the 48th minute. Luis Suárez fought for the ball in the middle of ABC and played for Everton Galdino, who hit to tie the game and guarantee Grêmio in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil.