Diniz's gamble scores as Corinthians beat Platense on Libertadores debut | OneFootball

Coach Fernando Diniz had a dream debut for Corinthians. This Thursday, Timão beat Platense 2-0 at the Ciudad de Vicente López Stadium in Buenos Aires, with goals from Kayke and Yuri Alberto, and began their Libertadores group-stage campaign with a win. The result also ended the team’s nine-match winless streak.

A spot-on bet

Diniz proved he has the magic touch in his first match in charge of the black-and-white side. One of the coach’s picks, young forward Kayke scored the goal that paved the way for the victory seven minutes into the second half. The Terrão academy graduate received a pass from Garro, burst into the box, and delicately chipped it over goalkeeper Borgogno.

Standings situation

The win puts Corinthians at the top of Group E with three points. Timão, however, could still lose that spot, considering Santa Fe and Peñarol also face each other later this Thursday. Platense, meanwhile, starts at the bottom of the group with no points.

📋 Match summary

🟤 PLATENSE 0 x 2 CORINTHIANS ⚫

🏆 Competition: Libertadores (Matchday 1 of the group stage) 🏟️ Venue: Ciudad de Vicente López Stadium, in Buenos Aires (ARG) 📅 Date: April 9, 2026 (Thursday) ⏰ Kickoff: 9 p.m. (Brasília time) 🟨 Yellow cards: André (Corinthians) 🟥 Red cards: Saborido (Platense)

Officiating

Goals:

🟤 Platense

Matías Borgogno; Juan Ignacio Saborido, Ignacio Vázquez (Raggio), Víctor Cuesta and Tomás Silva; Pablo Ferreira (Iván Gómez), Maximiliano Amarfil and Franco Zapiola (Gauto); Guido Mainero (Retamar), Augusto Lotti (Heredia) and Gonzalo Lencina. Coach: Walter Zunino

⚫ Corinthians

Hugo Souza; Matheuzinho, Gabriel Paulista, Gustavo Henrique and Matheus Bidu; Raniele (Allan), André (Carrillo), Breno Bidon and Rodrigo Garro (Jesse Lingard); Kayke (Vitinho) and Yuri Alberto (Pedro Raul). Coach: Fernando Diniz

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How the match unfolded

The first 30 minutes were cautious, with few real chances. Corinthians had a scare in the 31st minute. Mainero crossed into the box for Lencina, who headed toward the corner and forced goalkeeper Hugo Souza into a fine save.

Timão tried to build from the back, but could not move forward and struggled to create chances. The team’s first — and only — shot of the first half came in the 47th minute, when Yuri Alberto received a pass from Garro, found himself one-on-one with Borgogno, but hit it straight at the Platense goalkeeper.

Second half

Corinthians opened the scoring seven minutes into the second half. Yuri Alberto played it to Rodrigo Garro, who threaded it through for Kayke’s run. The youngster beat the defenders for pace and chipped it over Borgogno on the way out to put the ball in the back of the net.

Platense responded in the 17th minute. This time, after a cross into the box, Vázquez powered a header and was denied again by Hugo Souza. However, Timão doubled the lead in the 24th minute. Garro played Yuri Alberto through, and he went clear in front of Borgogno before striking with his left foot to score the visitors’ second.

Upcoming matches

Platense

Corinthians

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