Matheus Cunha rues defeat and downplays criticism: “A keeper’s life” | OneFootball

Cruzeiro’s 2-1 defeat to Universidad Católica at Mineirão continued to draw attention after the final whistle, especially because of the circumstances of the goals conceded. In the mixed zone, goalkeeper Matheus Cunha took a tone of collective responsibility and avoided singling out individual mistakes.

In audio obtained by Samuca TV, the keeper pointed out that both goals by the Chilean side came from aerial plays, which ended up being decisive in the negative result.

“They were two goals from crosses. One from a set piece and the other from a cross, where in one of them the guy jumped alone. When we lose, Cruzeiro loses, regardless of the mistake, whether there was an individual error or not, whether it was a saveable ball or not. Regardless of who is to blame or not, Cruzeiro is the one that loses. We have to get out of this situation and go after the three points in the league and then against Boca at Mineirão,” he said.

In the first half, Católica had already threatened with aerial balls before opening the scoring. In the second half, when Cruzeiro was enjoying its best spell and pressing after the equalizer, it was punished again from a cross, with space inside the box.

Even though he has been one of the recurring targets of criticism in recent matches, Matheus Cunha also addressed the natural pressure of the position and downplayed individual blame.

“That’s normal. That’s the life of a goalkeeper. For most goals, they’re going to blame the goalkeeper. We went after the win. If we had won, we practically would have had a foot in the next round. We have to turn the page and focus on the league, then we need to recover in the Libertadores. We have a difficult home game against Boca where we need the win to fight for qualification,” he added.

The result left Cruzeiro in a delicate position in Group D, behind Universidad Católica itself and Boca Juniors, the group leader. The next match in the continental competition, precisely against the Argentines at Mineirão, takes on a decisive tone for the team’s path in the tournament.

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