Striker enjoys longest run in Corinthians XI since joining club | OneFootball

On the evening of this Sunday (16), Corinthians hosted Cruzeiro at Neo Química Arena in a match valid for the 23rd round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship and was defeated 2-1. Center-back Gustavo Henrique, in the 13th minute of the second half, scored the goal for the club from Parque São Jorge. The defeat caused the Corinthians side to drop to ninth place with 32 points — eight wins, eight draws, and seven losses — with 25 goals scored and 22 conceded.

In the match against the team from Minas Gerais, Pedro Raul started from the opening whistle for the fourth consecutive game and put together his longest run as a starter for Timão since arriving at the club a little over two years ago. Previously, his longest stretches as a starter for Alvinegro had come in 2024, on two separate occasions, when he played three straight matches in the starting lineup.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The first came in February 2024, against Novorizontino, Santos, and Portuguesa, all in the Paulista Championship. The second, meanwhile, took place between March and April of the same year, against São Bernardo FC, Londrina, and Racing-URU, in matches in the Copa do Brasil, a friendly, and the Copa Sudamericana. Now, with Yuri Alberto injured and Memphis Depay's future still uncertain, the center-forward started the matches against Internacional (August 6), RB Bragantino (August 9), Rosario Central (August 13), and Cruzeiro (August 16) — games in the Copa do Brasil, Brasileirão, and Conmebol Libertadores.

According to Sofascore, a sports statistics app, Pedro Raul had a fairly quiet performance in attack, posting the following numbers during the 79 minutes he was on the field: two shots, one shot on target, one blocked shot, 4/7 accurate passes, one key pass, 15 touches, two carries, and one foul suffered, one defensive contribution, 2/3 ground duels won, and 1/3 aerial duels won. His rating in the app was 6.4.

The striker was signed by Corinthians in January 2024, at the start of former president Augusto Melo’s administration, from Toluca of Mexico for five million dollars (R$25 million at the exchange rate at the time), split into four installments, two to be paid in 2024 and the remainder in 2025. However, Timão renegotiated the start of payment to only the beginning of last year. As a result, due to interest, the player will cost Alvinegro eight million dollars (around R$42.8 million at the current exchange rate), to be paid in nine installments between 2025 and 2028.

Even with the high investment, Pedro Raul has not managed to establish himself at Corinthians under Mano Menezes, Antônio Oliveira, Ramón Díaz, Dorival Júnior, and, so far, the situation remains the same under Fernando Diniz. After receiving opportunities and delivering low-level performances in 2024, the striker was loaned to Ceará in March 2025. There, he was the team’s top scorer for the season, with 17 goals and two assists in 45 matches. Even so, Vozão was relegated to Série B and, for financial reasons, did not exercise the option to buy the player.

As a result, the No. 18 returned to Corinthians at the start of 2026 and was reintegrated into the squad, which at the time was still coached by Dorival Júnior. This year, he has made 29 appearances, with two goals and two assists. Since arriving at Timão, he has recorded six goals and four assists in 69 matches (22 as a starter) — 28 wins, 19 draws, and 22 losses — a 49.8% success rate.

Pedro Raul’s longest runs as a Corinthians starter since arriving at the club

First run

02/04/2024: Corinthians 1 x 3 Novorizontino (Paulista 2024)02/07/2024: Santos 1 x 0 Corinthians (Paulista 2024)02/11/2024: Corinthians 2 x 0 Portuguesa (Paulista 2024)

Second run

03/14/2024: São Bernardo FC 0 x 2 Corinthians (Copa do Brasil 2024)03/27/2024: Londrina 0 x 3 Corinthians (Friendlies 2024)04/02/2024: Racing-URU 1 x 1 Corinthians (Copa Sudamericana 2024)

Third run

08/06/2026: Corinthians 2 x 1 Internacional (Copa do Brasil 2025)08/09/2026: RB Bragantino 0 x 2 Corinthians (Brasileirão 2026)08/13/2026: Rosario Central-ARG 0 x 0 Corinthians (Libertadores 2026)08/16/2026: Corinthians 1 x 2 Cruzeiro (Brasileirão 2026)

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