League Play-Off

Bicuida
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) Rafinha Toledo started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. After 4 minutes, Célio do Nascimento mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Bicuida and the E.C. Bahia players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 4th minute, Célio do Nascimento hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After some fancy dribbling in the 5th minute, Edgar Bueno managed to get in a good position for a shot. E.C. Bahia's supporters rose to their feet, but Edgar Bueno was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Cássio Figueiredo breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The referee felt a red card was in order, 11 minutes into the game, when Célio do Nascimento put in a rough tackle. In a very dangerous position, a player in Bicuida fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 10th minute. Penalty! In the 13th minute there was a penalty for E.C. Bahia. Edgar Bueno stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Cássio Figueiredo. 0-1. If Lúcio Aguiar had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 16th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 18th match minute, Bicuida was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by José Vítor Peres to maneuver through the defense. Cássio Figueiredo showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Edu Dracena, who was totally free with the ball in the 19th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Jean Branco in the 20th minute of play forced Bicuida's goalkeeper Cássio Figueiredo to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After a rather tough play, Bicuida's Hílton Freitas got a free kick in the 21st minute. After a defensive mix-up in Bicuida's zone, Lúcio Aguiar stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Cássio Figueiredo came out of the goal and Lúcio Aguiar tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. A sloppy throw-in by Almir Hermes in the 25th minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by E.C. Bahia's Lenílson Lira. Cássio Figueiredo showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Lenílson Lira in the 25th minute of the match. E.C. Bahia's Lúcio Aguiar got a good chance for a goal in the 28th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. 30 minutes into the game, Edu Dracena cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-2. Cássio Figueiredo was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. A collision led to E.C. Bahia getting a freekick after 33 minutes play. Dé Simões hit a great ball. In the 36th minute of the game Patrick Freire made a throw-in which Hílton Freitas played forward. Róbson Romero acted impressively in front of the goal and made a superb save when he, in the 37th minute, took the ball on the long shot from Hélio Marquez. After a defensive mix-up in Bicuida's zone, Lúcio Aguiar stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Cássio Figueiredo came out of the goal and Lúcio Aguiar tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. In the 40th minute, Jean Branco left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The E.C. Bahia fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-3. Róbson Romero made an important save on a dangerous shot by José Vítor Peres in the 44th minute. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-3 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. Jean Branco was the one to do the kick off. Cássio Figueiredo made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jean Branco in the 55th minute of play. E.C. Bahia's Róbson Romero played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by José Vítor Peres in the 56th minute of play. 58 minutes into the match, Bicuida's goal looked a bit too open when Edu Dracena came free, but Cássio Figueiredo reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. José Vítor Peres received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 59th minute. Róbson Romero tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Váldson Pirani fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 61st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Róbson Romero having to interfere. Lúcio Aguiar hit a great freekick 65 minutes into the match. Róbson Romero didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from José Vítor Peres went, in the 69th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-3 was the resulting score. After some fancy dribbling in the 73rd minute, Jean Branco managed to get in a good position for a shot. E.C. Bahia's supporters rose to their feet, but Jean Branco was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Cássio Figueiredo breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Hílton Freitas hit a great freekick 75 minutes into the match. The nice shot from Jean Branco in the 77thth minute just in front of the goal should have ended in point on the board, but Cássio Figueiredo had a great feel for the game and superbly saved the ball from getting in by the left post. The audience thought a goal was coming when Jean Branco got free with Cássio Figueiredo in the 79th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 82nd match minute, Bicuida was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Humberto Veiga to maneuver through the defense. Jean Branco did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 1-4 to the left of a surprised Cássio Figueiredo 86 minutes into the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Lenílson Lira in the 90th minute of play forced Bicuida's goalkeeper Cássio Figueiredo to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Cássio Figueiredo made an important save on a dangerous shot by Jean Branco in the 92nd minute. After having played for 95 minutes, Váldson Pirani managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Bicuida's supporters crossed their fingers, but Váldson Pirani was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. When the match was over E.C. Bahia could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Bicuida throughout the match.