Botafogo and Universitario faced each other at Nilton SantosVítor Silva/Botafogo
Published 04/24/2024 20:53
Rio – With a good performance in the second half, Botafogo disenchanted and won their first match in the Libertadores group stage. Eduardo, twice, and Luiz Henrique scored and made Alvinegro defeat Universitario 3-1, at Nilton Santos. Olivares decreased for the visitors. With the result, the Rio club reaches three points and takes a breather in the competition. The Brazilian team is at the bottom of Group D, however, the bracket is messed up. Junior Barranquilha leads with five points, one more than LDU and Universitario. Each club still has three games to play until the groups close.
Botafogo will play again next Sunday, in the Brasileirão, against Flamengo, at Maracanã, at 11 am (Brasília time). For the Libertadores, Alvinegro will take the field again on the 8th, at Nilton Santos, against LDU, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time). Universitario’s next match in the competition will be against Junior Barranquilla, in Peru, the day before, at 11 pm (Brasília time).
The first half started with Botafogo giving the impression that they would corner Universitario on their field for practically the entire match. However, after seven minutes, Alvinegro received bad news. Tiquinho Soares had to leave the match due to a muscle injury in his right leg. Eduardo was his replacement.
The injury seemed to cool Botafogo, who despite having dominated the match, with a lot of ball possession, did little to threaten the opponent. The only chance before the break came in the 35th minute. On the right, Luiz Henrique made a beautiful individual play and crossed, Jefferson Savarino closed and finished for goalkeeper Britos, saving the Peruvian team.
The second half started very differently for the Cariocas. With just one minute, Botafogo took the lead. Alexander Barboza, who had just entered, started the play, then Júnior Santos teamed up with Eduardo and served the black and white midfielder to finish and open the score.
The goal excited Botafogo who quickly reached their second. Gregore recovered the ball in the attacking field, Savarino made a beautiful pass and found Luiz Henrique. The striker dribbled past goalkeeper Britos and rolled into the back of the net to score his first goal with the black and white shirt.
With an advantage on the scoreboard, Alvinegro reduced the pace a little, and two goals ended up coming in stoppage time. First, Mateo Ponte beat the Peruvian defense and served Eduardo, who invaded the Universitario area, and finished with a pout to score the third. In the next move, the black and white defense faltered and Olivares appeared to reduce for the Peruvian opponent.
