Willian José scores but rues defeat as G5 battle heats up | OneFootball

This Thursday, Bahia was defeated by Fortaleza at Arena Fonte Nova, 3-2, in the Brazilian Championship. Scorer of the first goal for Bahia, Willian José lamented the loss amidst the fight for a spot in the group stage of the Libertadores and highlighted the counterattacks of the opposing team.

“We conceded a goal that we cannot afford to concede, especially while fighting for a spot in the Libertadores. In the first half, we suffered many counterattacks, which was what we worked on the most. Rogério showed us videos, and we knew they had a very strong counterattack, but we conceded two goals in the first half,” he said to Premiere.

“Even losing 2-0, we came back for the second half wanting the win. We scored the first goal, but soon after we conceded the third, so it became more difficult. We tried until the last minute, I had a chance with a free kick, but that's how it is. We need to keep our heads up and think about Vasco on Sunday,” he added.

Then, the forward emphasized that Bahia continues to fight for the G5 and asked for the fans' support for the next decisive match against Vasco.

“Today's game was crucial for the Libertadores fight, but nothing is lost. We have a very difficult game against Vasco here. We hope to count on our fans' support because we are very strong here. We couldn't fail today, but we did, and that's football; we won't always come out winners, and we will keep working,” he concluded.

Standings Situation

With the result, Bahia remains in seventh place with 53 points, two points behind Botafogo, which opens the G5.

Next Match

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