League Play-Off

Estádio Carioca
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Nestor Abraão made the kick off which started today's match. In the 5th minute, Leandro Pirani made a precise shot to the right of Virgílio França. Água Cristal FC's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 1-0. Geraldo Bittencourt sent away a hard shot on goal in the 8th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 14th minute, one of Água Cristal FC:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Água Cristal FC. After 17 minutes of play, Carioca AD's Marcinho Carvalho made it 2-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Virgílio França was left in no man's land by his defense there! A collision led to Água Cristal FC getting a freekick after 22 minutes play. Geraldo Bittencourt hit a great ball. After 23 minutes, Marcinho Carvalho mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Carioca AD and the Água Cristal FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 24thth minute of the game Geraldo Bittencourt who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Carioca AD's Reynaldo de Almeida was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Leandro Pirani scored 3-0 in the 26th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Virgílio França, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. The supporters of Carioca AD booed when Água Cristal FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 30 match minutes in a wonderful position. Michel Koehler didn't get a good kick on the ball. Reynaldo de Almeida showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Geraldo Bittencourt, who was totally free with the ball in the 32nd minute. Geraldo Bittencourt recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 38th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Reynaldo de Almeida took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Tomás Peixoto, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When the match had gone on for 42 minutes, Geraldo Bittencourt put it in 3-1 from a short distance just to the right of Reynaldo de Almeida. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 3-1 at half-time.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Geraldo Bittencourt stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. A hard shot by Álvaro Prestes from long distance, 52 minutes into the match, got Reynaldo de Almeida's attention. Through a fast twist with his body, he could stop the ball from going in on his right side. Júlio Mendonça hit a great freekick 53 minutes into the match. In the 59th minute, Nestor Abraão left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Carioca AD fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 4-1. Água Cristal FC's Virgílio França played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Telmo Duarte in the 62nd minute of play. In the 64th match minute, Água Cristal FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Bebeto Simões to maneuver through the defense. Virgílio França showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Leandro Pirani in the 65th minute of the match. The audience thought a goal was coming when Geraldo Bittencourt got free with Reynaldo de Almeida in the 68th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 69th match minute, Água Cristal FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Álvaro Prestes to maneuver through the defense. Virgílio França made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Leandro Pirani in the 71st minute of play. Virgílio França showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Nestor Abraão in the 73rd minute of the match. After a rather tough play, Carioca AD's Marcinho Carvalho got a free kick in the 80th minute. The crowd rose to their feet as Geraldo Bittencourt kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Reynaldo de Almeida. That made the score 4-2 in the 81 minute of play. In the 86th minute of the match, Geraldo Bittencourt tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Reynaldo de Almeida saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. Carioca AD's fans were exulted and cheered after their team won in a match that could easily have gone the other way.