Yuri Alberto passes Neto in Corinthians scoring, matches Sheik in one stat | OneFootball

Corinthians visited Platense of Argentina on Thursday night (9) at the Ciudad de Vicente López Stadium, in a match for the first round of the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores group stage, and came away with a 2-0 victory. The result put Fernando Diniz’s side, with the coach making his debut in charge of the club, at the top of Group E with three points, since Santa Fé-COL and Peñarol drew 1-1 in the other group match.

The Alvinegro’s goals were scored by forwards Kayke and Yuri Alberto — the latter reached 81 goals in a Corinthians shirt, surpassing former attacking midfielder Neto, Corinthians’ main player in the club’s first Brazilian title in 1990, who found the net 80 times in 228 matches for the team from Parque São Jorge. The striker overtook the former No. 10 with seven fewer matches.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The No. 9 found the net in the 25th minute of the second half, when Matheuzinho took a throw-in from the right and the ball fell to Rodrigo Garro. The No. 8 carried the ball forward and spotted Yuri Alberto free on the right. One-on-one with the goalkeeper, the striker slipped it past him and doubled the lead. So far, he is the team’s top scorer this year with five goals in 14 matches.

With that, Yuri Alberto now stands alone as the 25th top scorer in Corinthians history. According to transfermarket, 26 of those goals (32.1%) were scored with his weaker foot (left). He is now just one goal away from drawing level with Gambarotta, a forward who played for Alvinegro between late 1919 and early 1928, scoring 82 goals in 167 matches, with 127 wins, 16 draws, and 24 defeats — a 79.24% success rate — as well as winning four titles: Taça Competência (1922) and the Campeonato Paulista (1922, 1923, and 1924).

The striker joined Corinthians in mid-2022, initially on loan from Zenit of Russia. At the start of 2023, he was signed permanently in a deal involving five players. Since then, he has totaled 81 goals and 22 assists in 221 matches for Alvinegro (189 as a starter) — 97 wins, 57 draws, and 67 defeats. He is the club’s top scorer of the century and also the leading scorer in the history of Neo Química Arena, inaugurated in 2014, with 50 goals in 111 matches there.

In 2024, he was Brazil’s top scorer with 31 goals — 15 of them in the Brazilian Championship, a competition in which he was the outright top scorer. That year, he was crucial in the team’s surge in the national competition (from the relegation zone to the Libertadores qualifying stage). Last year and at the start of 2026, he also played a decisive role in the team’s Paulista Championship, Copa do Brasil, and Supercopa titles against Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama, and Flamengo, respectively, scoring in all three finals.

Goal involvements in Conmebol tournaments

According to a survey by journalist Tomás Rosolino on his X account, formerly Twitter, Yuri Alberto became the sixth Corinthians player with the most direct goal involvements for the club in competitions organized by Conmebol, with 16.

He drew level with former forward Emerson Sheik, who had two spells with Alvinegro (2011-2015 and 2018), scoring 28 goals in 196 matches and winning: the Brazilian Championship (2011 and 2015), the Paulista Championship (2013 and 2018), the Libertadores (2012), the Club World Cup (2012), and the Recopa Sudamericana (2013).

Corinthians’ No. 9 is surpassed in this category only by: Marcelinho Carioca (50), Ricardinho (23), Luizão (22), Edilson (19), and Jadson (18).

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