Dorival’s substitution key in Corinthians win in Curitiba | OneFootball

By André da Silva Costa

The Corinthians took the lead in the clash against Athletico-PR in the quarter-finals of the Copa do Brasil. The Timão defeated the Furacão 1-0 on Wednesday at Ligga Arena, with a goal by Gui Negão. The victory was achieved thanks to a decisive change by coach Dorival Júnior.

The black-and-white team started better in Curitiba but quickly got stuck in Athletico's marking. The Furacão ended up having the most dangerous chances in the first half.

The main problem for Corinthians was in the build-up play. In the absence of Raniele, who was suspended, Dorival opted to field Charles. However, the player showed difficulties in distributing the play and made several wrong passes that even led to counterattacks for the home team.

The situation changed at halftime when Dorival took out Charles and brought in Cacá, altering the scheme to a three-defender system. With this, the coach freed the wing-backs Matheus Bidu and Matheuzinho to attack and brought midfielders Maycon, Breno Bidon, and Rodrigo Garro closer.

Corinthians started to build their plays better and soon saw the change pay off. At 12 minutes, Maycon made a beautiful pass to Vitinho, who switched to Matheuzinho. He received inside the area and crossed to the young Gui Negão, who only had to push it into the net.

Besides improving the attack, the system with three defenders helped Timão defend masterfully, despite a slight physical drop. Dorival spoke about the change in a press conference after the game.

"Many say that with three defenders the team becomes defensive. On the contrary. We gained offensiveness, advanced our marking, and found our goal. It was fundamental, important. We had a drop afterward, mainly in the physical aspect, much due to the last match we played. We already imagined we would have problems. Athletico came at us, and we had the competence to neutralize most situations, except for a header saved by Hugo, which gave us the possibility of an important result," he analyzed.

The system, by the way, could become a solution for Dorival given the possible absence of Matheuzinho. The player left the field with pain in the back of his right thigh and will be evaluated. At this moment, the immediate substitute for the position, in a line of four, would be the improvised Félix Torres.

With the 1-0 victory, Corinthians only needs a draw in the return match to advance to the next phase. A loss by one goal difference takes the match to penalties, while a defeat by two or more goals eliminates the team from São Paulo. The winner of the clash will face Cruzeiro or Atlético-MG in the semi-finals.

The second encounter with Athletico-PR is scheduled for September 10, also at 9:30 PM (Brasília time), at Neo Química Arena.

Before that, Corinthians has nothing less than a Derby ahead. Dorival Júnior's team will host Palmeiras this Sunday in Itaquera, for the 22nd round of the Brazilian Championship. The classic will start at 6:30 PM.

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