Corinthians lose with mixed side, Fortaleza escape relegation zone | OneFootball

With an eye on the Copa do Brasil, Corinthians played with a mixed team against Fortaleza on Wednesday night at Arena Castelão and lost 2-1. As a result, Leão do Pici left the relegation zone of the Brazilian Championship. The home team's goals were scored by Pochettino and Herrera, while André scored for Timão.

Standings Situation

The defeat takes away Corinthians' chance to reach the eighth position in the standings. The alvinegra team, therefore, depends on the Copa do Brasil title to go to the 2026 Libertadores. Timão occupies the tenth place in the Brasileirão, with 46 points.

Fortaleza, on the other hand, leaves the Z4 after 27 rounds and jumps to 16th, with 43 points, one more than the 17th place Vitória. Leão do Pici depends only on its own strength to avoid relegation in the last round.

📋 Match Summary

🔴🔵⚪ FORTALEZA 2 X 1 CORINTHIANS ⚫⚪

🏆 Competition: Brazilian Championship (37th round) 🏟️ Venue: Arena Castelão, in Fortaleza (CE) 📅 Date: December 3, 2025 (Wednesday) ⏰ Time: 7 PM (Brasília time) 🟨 Yellow Cards: Bareiro, Herrera, Matheus Pereira, Brítez, and Deyverson (Fortaleza); Gustavo Henrique (Corinthians) 🟥 Red Cards: None

Refereeing

Goals:

🔴🔵⚪ Fortaleza

Brenno; Mancuso, Brítez, Gastón Ávila, and Diogo Barbosa; Matheus Pereira (Pierre), Lucas Sasha, and Pochettino (Moisés); Herrera (Yago Pikachu), Breno Lopes (Rossetto), and Adam Bareiro (Deyverson). Coach: Martín Palermo

⚫⚪ Corinthians

Hugo Souza; Cacá (José Martínez), André Ramalho (Raniele), Gustavo Henrique, and Matheus Bidu; André, Maycon, Breno Bidon (Talles Magno), and Dieguinho; Vitinho (Kayke) and Gui Negão (Romero). Coach: Dorival Júnior

How was the game?

Fortaleza took advantage of the crowd's momentum and opened the scoring early, at seven minutes. After a mistake by Corinthians, Breno Lopes sprinted and passed to Bareiro, who crossed perfectly for Pochettino. Unmarked, the Argentine shot at the far post and found the net.

Corinthians' Pressure

After Leão do Pici's goal, it was all Timão. The response came quickly at nine minutes when Matheus Bidu tried from afar and forced a good save from Brenno. At 13, Bidon received at the edge of the area and shot placed. The ball barely missed the post.

Corinthians threatened again at 31. Vitinho made a good play and passed to Gui Negão, who ended up shooting against the defense. Two minutes later, Maycon received from Dieguinho and aimed for the top corner, but Brenno saved. At 36, Dieguinho weaved through the right side, moved to the middle, and shot to the corner, very close to the post.

Dorival Júnior's team wasted another chance at 42 minutes. After a triangle play with Vitinho, Matheus Bidu invaded the area from the left and rolled the ball to Gui Negão, who shot weakly, stopped by the defense.

If you don't score…

After so many wasted chances by Corinthians, Fortaleza took advantage of their first great opportunity in the second half and didn't forgive. Rossetto made a good pass to Herrera, who found himself one-on-one with Hugo Souza and chipped over the goalkeeper, extending the lead.

André Reduces

Timão reduced the score at 24 minutes. Vitinho drove down the left side and crossed low to the middle of the area, where André appeared unmarked to shoot first-time into the corner, leaving Brenno no chance.

Brenno's Miracle

Corinthians almost equalized at 45 minutes of the second half. Kayke found a cross for Romero, who was free in the small area and headed high. Brenno, however, performed a miracle and pushed it out, securing the tricolor's victory.

Upcoming Matches

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.