This Thursday (14), coach Zé Ricardo led Cruzeiro for the first time and he couldn’t have had a better debut. In the middle of Vila Belmiro, they beat Santos 3 x 0 with the brilliance of Nikão, a little-used player who was one of their choices for substitution in the final stage. The Celeste fans soon got excited about the new coach and one fan said: “he’s going to save us (sic)”, in reference to the fight against relegation in the Brazilian Championship.
In addition to scoring the third goal, Nikão assisted for the second, scored by Bruno Rodrigues (another coming from the bench) after 10 matches of fasting. Matheus Jussa was the one who opened the scoring, in the first half, after a corner taken by Lucas Silva.
Several Cruzeiro residents also made a mea culpa and asked Zé Ricardo for forgiveness. The reason for the apology was the various criticisms regarding the coach’s choice at the beginning of September, replacing the Portuguese Pepa.
boy… Zé Ricardo will save us
— Dan Abreu (@dabreuzada) September 14, 2023
What a reading from Zé Ricardo in this second half.
May it continue like this.
— Joao Paulo (@Joao_Paulo1921) September 14, 2023
He played really well in the second half, the second goal came from two players he introduced in the 2nd half.
— Walbert ᶜᵉᶜ (@walbertt_) September 14, 2023
Queue to apologize to Zé Ricardo
Forgiveness
— Thiago Monteiro (@monteir0_thiago) September 14, 2023
ZÉ RICARDO PERFORMING MIRACLES
— Priscila Santoos (@Priscil92254897) September 15, 2023
Zé Ricardo or Guardiola? Only time will tell who was better https://t.co/DPwIVekuJB
— Gabriel Batata (@IgnatzNox) September 15, 2023
zé ricardo, I sincerely apologize for any criticism I may have made of you
— anna vitorino (@annaluiza_vp) September 15, 2023
Cruzeiro gains breathing space in the fight against relegation
Previously close to the relegation zone, Cruzeiro fans can now breathe a sigh of relief. The team suffered from a long negative sequence of eight matches without winning, combined with five draws and three defeats. At that moment, the Minas Gerais club’s triumph took them to 10th place in the championship, opening eight points to Santos, the first team in the Z4.
With 15 rounds to be played in the Brasileirão, Zé Ricardo’s team took an important step towards remaining in Série A. See Cruzeiro’s next challenges this season.
- Fluminense x Cruzeiro, Brasileirão Série A 2023, Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, RJ – September 20th (Wednesday), at 9:30 pm (Brasília time);
- Cruzeiro x América-MG, Brasileirão Série A 2023, Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais – October 1 (Sunday), time to be defined;
- Cruzeiro x Flamengo, Brasileirão Série A 2023, Mineirão, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais – October 8 (Sunday), time to be defined.
Santos de Aguirre worries
Despite debuting with a defeat, coach Diego Aguirre showed that he could extract more from the Santos squad with the victory over Grêmio. However, in the following three rounds (counting today’s match), the team accumulated three consecutive defeats, with seven goals conceded and none scored.
At this moment, Santos can only get out of Z4 in two rounds – counting on a stumble from their rivals – because Bahia’s advantage is four points. Find out Peixe’s next games in the Brasileirão.
- Santos x Vasco, Brasileirão Série A, Santos-SP – October 1st (Sunday), 4pm (Brasília time);
- Palmeiras x Santos, Brasileirão Série A, São Paulo-SP – September 8th (Sunday), 4pm (Brasília time);
- Santos x RB Bragantino, Brasileirão Série A, Santos-SP – October 19th (Thursday), 8pm (Brasília time).
