🇧🇷 Gabriel Martinelli breathes rare air with match-winner vs Japan | OneFootball

Brazil's journey to a hopeful sixth World Cup title continues after a last-gasp 2-1 win against growing footballing power Japan, in Houston.

Seleção were shocked before the break thanks to a cool finish from Mainz midfielder Kaishu Sano, who gave Samurai Blue a memorable opener in front of a packed crowd in Texas.

But that didn't stop a marching Brazilian side, who would pull back on level terms in the 56th minute thanks to a back-post header from Casemiro, who made amends for his paltry first-half offerings.

And then it was Martinelli's big moment. Replacing Matheus Cunha in the 65th minute, the Arsenal winger did so well to control Bruno Guimarães' throughpass before applying a customary curled effort into the bottom corner despite Zion Suzuki's best efforts to get a finger tip to it.

With his 90min+5 match-winning moment, Martinelli scored the latest winning goal in normal time across the knockout stages on record.

Though his future at the Emirates remains under review, his ability to turn the tide for Arsenal, and now Brazil, leaves him in very good standing both at home and abroad.

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors