Cruzeiro score late, beat Pouso Alegre and book spot in Mineiro final | OneFootball

Cruzeiro secured a spot in the final of the Campeonato Mineiro this Saturday by defeating Pouso Alegre 1-0 at Mineirão in the second leg of the semifinal. Kaio Jorge scored the only goal of the match in stoppage time of the second half. In the first leg, Tite's team had already won 2-1 away from home.

Situation of the Matchup

The final, which will be played as a single match, takes place next Sunday, March 8. Cruzeiro awaits the winner of América-MG vs Atlético-MG, who face each other this Sunday. In the first leg, the teams drew 1-1.

📋 Match Summary

🔵⚪ CRUZEIRO 1 x 0 POUSO ALEGRE 🔴⚫ 🏆 Competition: Campeonato Mineiro (Semifinal – Second Leg) 🏟️ Venue: Mineirão, in Belo Horizonte (MG) 📅 Date: February 28, 2026 (Saturday) ⏰ Time: 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time) 👥 Attendance: 31,304 fans 💰 Revenue: R$ 1,047,560.00 🟨 Yellow cards: Arroyo (Cruzeiro); André Anderson and Matheus Nunes (Pouso Alegre) 🟥 Red cards: None

Refereeing

Referee: Daniel da Cunha Oliveira Filho Assistants: Fernanda Nandrea Gomes Antunes and Pablo Almeida Costa VAR: Marco Aurélio Augusto Fazekas Ferreira

Goal

⚽ Kaio Jorge, at 51′ of the 2nd half

🔵⚪Cruzeiro

Cássio (Matheus Cunha); William, Fabrício Bruno, Villalba and Kaiki; Lucas Romero, Lucas Silva (Matheus Henrique), Gerson (Arroyo (Wanderson)) and Christian (Bruno Rodrigues); Matheus Pereira and Kaio Jorge. Coach: Tite

🔴⚫ Pouso Alegre

Thiago Braga; Vitão, Xandão and Vanderley; Matheus Nunes, Alexandre Pena (Ryan), Romarinho and Pedro Arthur (Gabriel); Gabriel Tota (André Anderson), Thiago Rubim (Marcelo Cauã) and De Paula (Nathan Palafoz). Coach: Danilo

How was the match?

At the 22nd minute, Cruzeiro almost opened the scoring. Matheus Pereira shot from outside the box and saw the goalkeeper make a great save to prevent the goal. Shortly after, William set up Kaio Jorge, who shot first time into the corner. Thiago Braga parried. Arroyo tried on the rebound, but the ball went out for a corner.

The Foxes lost Gerson, who felt his knee shortly after the 20-minute mark. At the 30-minute mark, Alexandre crossed the ball into the box, Cássio caught it, Xandão collided with the goalkeeper and the ball went into the goal. However, the referee stopped the play for a foul.

Back for the second half, Cruzeiro threatened again. William crossed into the box, Christian headed and ended up setting up Matheus Pereira, who couldn’t finish. Christian got the rebound and shot over the goal. The Foxes had another concern as Cássio left the field also with knee pain, leading to Matheus Cunha’s debut.

At 31 minutes, Cruzeiro threatened Pouso Alegre’s defense. Matheus Pereira took a corner into the box, Fabrício Bruno flicked a header backwards and saw Thiago Braga make the save. In stoppage time, Pouso Alegre almost scored an own goal. Kaiki advanced down the left and crossed low into the box. Xandão tried to clear, sent it towards his own goal, but Thiago Braga saved.

In stoppage time, Kaio Jorge scored and secured Cruzeiro’s victory. After a combination on the right, Matheus Pereira received in the box and set up Kaio Jorge. The striker shot low into the corner and found the net.

Upcoming Cruzeiro Matches

Match: Cruzeiro vs winner of América-MG or Atlético-MG Competition: Campeonato Mineiro (Final) Date and time: March 8 (Sunday), time to be determined Venue: to be determined

Match: Flamengo vs Cruzeiro Competition: Campeonato Brasileiro (5th round) Date and time: March 11 (Wednesday), at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Maracanã

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