League

Monlevade
Spectators: 7232 (Terracing: 5426, Seating: 1663, VIP seats: 143) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Olavo Donato made the kick off which started today's match. In the 4th minute, Olavo Donato left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The AS Novelli fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-1. In the 8th minute José Paulo Lucas shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jardel Montenegro saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. José Paulo França showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Betinho Rocha in the 17th minute of the match. Monlevade's José Paulo França played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Olavo Donato in the 20th minute of play. After 22 played minutes Monlevade got a freekick which was hit by Afonso Godoi. Olavo Donato received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 23rd minute. José Paulo França tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Olavo Donato in the 32nd minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck José Paulo França prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Afonso Godoi's late challenge caught a AS Novelli's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Afonso Godoi helped the player get up and apologised. After 32 played minutes Monlevade got a freekick which was hit by Afonso Godoi. In the 41st minute of the match Rubens Paes shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but José Paulo França showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 0-3 lead.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when José Paulo Lucas stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Jardel Montenegro came out of the goal in the 53rd minute to try and stop a shot by Monlevade's José Paulo Lucas. But to his dismay, José Paulo Lucas quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-3. An unexpectedly hard shot by José Paulo Lucas in the 58th minute of play forced AS Novelli's goalkeeper Jardel Montenegro to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. AS Novelli's Jardel Montenegro played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by José Paulo Lucas in the 61st minute of play. José Paulo Lucas received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 63rd minute. Jardel Montenegro tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Edmílson Borges hit a great freekick 69 minutes into the match. Gilson Sampaio was probably a little too eager to shoot when he, in the 70th played minute, shot the ball from way out. The shot was hard, but the ball flew wide of the goal. After a rather tough play, Monlevade's Ian Barral got a free kick in the 71st minute. In the 76th minute AS Novelli were awarded a corner. Gilson Sampaio went to the cornerflag to take it. AS Novelli's Gilson Sampaio was first on the ball when the corner was shot and he dangerously headed the ball towards goal, but José Paulo França in the goal jumped up to prevent it from getting in. Jardel Montenegro made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from José Paulo Lucas in the 78th minute of play. José Paulo França made a fantastic save in the 81st minute, when Betinho Rocha sent off a good shot on target. If Olavo Donato had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 92nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Arthur Sousa kicked well hit freekick during the 94th minute of the match. The AS Novelli players were relieved to hear the final whistle blow to end the match. The away crowd was happy to see their team win after a very tight game.