With Suárez’s hat-trick, Grêmio defeats São Luiz and wins the Recopa Gaúcha

Most fans who went to the Arena wanted just one thing: to see Luis Suárez. And they weren’t disappointed. The 49,614 Grêmio supporters who were in the Humaitá neighborhood, on Tuesday night (17), witnessed the Uruguayan striker’s gala debut – the best of his entire career. Grêmio’s new number 9 scored three times in the first half alone and helped the team beat São Luiz, from Ijuí, by 4-1, confirming the conquest of the Recopa Gaúcha, the first cup in 2023.

In the fourth minute, in his first touch of the ball, Luisito received a first-time pass from Ferreira and, as the goalkeeper left, covered Gabriel Félix, with great style, to score his first goal with the tricolor shirt. But after opening the scoring, the home team suffered two frights. The first, at eight minutes, Brenno had to stretch to defend a dangerous shot by Éderson, after fumbling the defense. In the other, at 12 o’clock, the Grêmio goalkeeper saved a shot by Ygor Vinícius.

And to the surprise of the small crowd that traveled from Ijuí to Porto Alegre, at 14, São Luiz reached the tie: Ygor Vinícius crossed low and defensive midfielder Paulinho Santos hit masked, but with no chance for Brenno. But the joy of the Interior team ended in the next minute. After a good exchange of passes between Fábio, Campaz and Bitello on the right side, the tricolor team easily entered the opposing area. Bitello hit a strong shot, crossed, to put the hosts ahead of the marker again.

Grêmio kept the pace up there and, at 30 minutes, Suárez scored another, the third for Tricolor. With the mark high, Kannemann stole the ball and left it with Ferreira, who triggered Luisito. The number 9 waited for the São Luiz goalkeeper to show a reaction and hit the back of the net.

With the team from Ijuí bewildered and completely down, it didn’t take long for the room to leave. At 37 minutes, after a short corner kick, Reinaldo crossed into the penalty area. São Luiz’s defense did little to pass and Suaréz, positioned at the second post, kicked the first time to score his hat-trick at the Arena.

Clearly the pace of the match dropped in the final stage. With the result defined, Tricolor started to control the match more, but without ceasing to approach the São Luiz area. In two consecutive shots, at eight and nine minutes, Gabriel Félix prevented Ferreira from scoring his.

Before being substituted, the 12, El Pistolero almost scored the fourth: Reinaldo kicked straight into the area, Luisito left the mark behind and headed, but Gabriel Félix, with his fingertips, sent it to a corner. And, in the next minute, the Arena exploded in applause and shouts of “Suárez, Suárez, Suárez”, who left the pitch for Diego Souza to enter, who was also highly celebrated.

Already thinking about his debut in Gauchão, Saturday, against Caxias, in the Serra Gaúcha, coach Renato Portaluppi began to preserve most of the players, giving opportunity for the debuts of Gustavinho and Carballo. With nothing else to do in the match, it was just a matter of waiting for Lelandro Vuaden’s final whistle for Grêmio to celebrate their fourth Recopa Gaúcha title.