Lucas Silva hails stunning goal, team maturity and Jardim’s demands

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·22 September 2025

Lucas Silva hails stunning goal, team maturity and Jardim’s demands

The scorer of the goal that sparked Cruzeiro’s comeback in the 2-1 victory over Red Bull Bragantino this Sunday (21) at Mineirão, midfielder and captain Lucas Silva celebrated the special moment he experienced in front of the fans. Wearing the number 16 jersey, he struck a beautiful shot from outside the box in the first half, leveling the match and paving the way for Cruzeiro’s turnaround.

“I’d been looking for this goal for a while, taking chances from outside the box. The fans demand it from me a lot. Today it finally happened, at an important moment in the match, tying the game and giving us confidence to come back strong for the second half.”

Lucas also commented on the opponent’s approach, which surprised the Cruzeiro team with the strategy adopted at Mineirão. “We were surprised by Bragantino’s defensive stance. So you have to push forward, create plays, and take a few more risks. That makes us open up our defense a bit more, and they have a fast, quality attack. But something I see as important is our maturity—even after going behind on the scoreboard, we kept our composure, worked the ball, tied the game, and came back strong in the second half, controlling the match and turning it around. Seabra knows our team, he made things difficult, but we managed to overcome that adversity.” he analyzed.

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The midfielder also highlighted coach Leonardo Jardim’s insistence that he and his teammate Lucas Romero take more shots from outside the area.

“Even Jardim pushes me on this. Romero and I have to take more shots from outside the box. Romero even tried a few, but when I had the opportunity, I managed to set up the play well and found space. I even saw Villalba making a run, but I thought, ‘I’m not letting this one go,’ and it turned out to be a beautiful goal. Every time there’s an opening, I’m going to take the risk and shoot.”

As team captain, Lucas also spoke about the competition in the midfield, especially with Matheus Henrique, who just joined the club. For him, the competition is positive and strengthens the squad for the long season. “It’s a really great and healthy competition with Matheus Henrique. We’ve already played together as a midfield pair at Grêmio. It’s a healthy rivalry, and I think it’s necessary in the squad; it keeps everyone performing at the highest level. And with the Brazilian calendar, everyone will get their chance. In this competition, the only winner is Cruzeiro. Today he needed to come on and he delivered. Every player will have their minutes and their role, and that will be important.” he concluded.

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