League

City Stadium
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) Caruaru City's Leonel de Barros started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. After a rather tough play, Caruaru City's Doriva Romero got a free kick in the 2nd minute. Doriva Romero kicked well hit freekick during the 5th minute of the match. Gil Vinhas took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 6th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Perivaldo Alvarenga. Caruaru City's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. After having played for 7 minutes, Haroldo Barreto managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Meireles FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Haroldo Barreto was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. 10 minutes into the game, Nilmar Dantas was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Caruaru City's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Meireles FC the free kick. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 9th minute of the game. One of Caruaru City:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Meireles FC:s goal. Zé Pedro Almeida's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Perivaldo Alvarenga read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 20th minute of play. Haroldo Barreto struck a weak shot in the 24th minute. Perivaldo Alvarenga didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Meireles FC. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Haroldo Barreto in the 26th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Perivaldo Alvarenga prevented the ball from getting in the gole. When Diogo Meirelles came up free with the goalie in the 28th minute, the Caruaru City fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Diogo Meirelles couldn't finish the play. After a defensive mix-up in Caruaru City's zone, Haroldo Barreto stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Perivaldo Alvarenga came out of the goal and Haroldo Barreto tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 32nd minute, Didi Paes hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The supporters of Meireles FC booed when Caruaru City was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 33 match minutes in a wonderful position. Leonel de Barros didn't get a good kick on the ball. Leonel de Barros struck a weak shot in the 35th minute. Emanuel Guerra didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Caruaru City. Perivaldo Alvarenga made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Haroldo Barreto in the 37th minute of play. Haroldo Barreto fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 39th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Perivaldo Alvarenga having to interfere. Leonel de Barros fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 41st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Emanuel Guerra having to interfere. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-1 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Zé Pedro Almeida was the one to do the kick off. Gino Alagoano's late challenge caught a Caruaru City's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Gino Alagoano helped the player get up and apologised. An unexpectedly hard shot by Leonel de Barros in the 60th minute of play forced Meireles FC's goalkeeper Emanuel Guerra to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With his leg Perivaldo Alvarenga managed to avoid a goal in the 65thth minute, when Meireles FC's Haroldo Barreto fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Haroldo Barreto's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Perivaldo Alvarenga firmly grabbed it by the left post. After 76 played minutes Caruaru City got a freekick which was hit by Doriva Romero. In the 77th minute Zé Pedro Almeida shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Perivaldo Alvarenga saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A collision led to Caruaru City getting a freekick after 78 minutes play. Doriva Romero hit a great ball. Diogo Meirelles's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Emanuel Guerra read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 81st minute of play. Emanuel Guerra came out of the goal in the 82nd minute to try and stop a shot by Caruaru City's Leonel de Barros. But to his dismay, Leonel de Barros quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-1. If Zé Pedro Almeida had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 88th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. 90 minutes into the match, Meireles FC's Haroldo Barreto sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Perivaldo Alvarenga narrowly saved just below the crossbar. 91 minutes into the match, Leonel de Barros notched a goal, 2-1, to the right of Meireles FC's Emanuel Guerra. Emanuel Guerra was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. 95 minutes into the match, Caruaru City's goal looked a bit too open when Zé Pedro Almeida came free, but Perivaldo Alvarenga reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Caruaru City were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of Meireles FC for a fine match.