League

Estádio Mervesta
Spectators: 6663 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1663, VIP seats: 0) Cristóvão Velloso started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. Gil Donatello's late challenge caught a Mervesta's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Gil Donatello helped the player get up and apologised. In the 2nd match minute, Picoto was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gil Donatello to maneuver through the defense. After 9 minutes of play, Picoto's Cristóvão Velloso made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Marcelinho Paraibano was left in no man's land by his defense there! After a rather tough play, Picoto's Válbson Soares got a free kick in the 12th minute. Sílvio Luiz de Almeida fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 13th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Geovânio Bittencourt having to interfere. 15 minutes into the game, Picoto's Cristóvão Velloso nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Marcelinho Paraibano made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 0-2. After 18 played minutes Picoto got a freekick which was hit by Benê Tinoco. Robinho Pinheiro recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 19th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Romário Simão fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 20th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Geovânio Bittencourt having to interfere. Romário Simão's shot when he came free in front of the goal in the 24thth minute, Geovânio Bittencourt skillfully showed off with a save to what seemed to be an obvious goal. Geovânio Bittencourt made an important save on a dangerous shot by Romário Simão in the 29th minute. After 35 played minutes, Picoto's Douglas Valladares shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Marcelinho Paraibano came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Picoto reached it. After 35 played minutes Mervesta got a freekick which was hit by Sílvio Luís Sabóia. If Benê Tinoco had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 36th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 38 minutes into the match, Mervesta's goal looked a bit too open when Cristóvão Velloso came free, but Marcelinho Paraibano reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Cristóvão Velloso received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 40th minute. Marcelinho Paraibano tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Marcelinho Paraibano took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Benê Tinoco, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Germano Donatello charged in rather forcefully in the 45th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Germano Donatello the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Germano Donatello kicked well hit freekick during the 46th minute of the match. The crowd rose to their feet as Mervesta's Sílvio Luiz de Almeida slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Geovânio Bittencourt. That made the score 1-2 after 47 minutes of play. After the first half Picoto were leading 1-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Sílvio Luiz de Almeida to make the kick off. In the 53rd play minute Benê Tinoco came free and shot an unsuspected shot which went into goal from the right pole behind a surprised Marcelinho Paraibano. 1-3. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sílvio Luiz de Almeida in the 58th minute of play forced Picoto's goalkeeper Geovânio Bittencourt to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After having played for 61 minutes, Benê Tinoco managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Picoto's supporters crossed their fingers, but Benê Tinoco was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After some fancy dribbling in the 62nd minute, Cristóvão Velloso managed to get in a good position for a shot. Picoto's supporters rose to their feet, but Cristóvão Velloso was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Marcelinho Paraibano breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Franklin Cunha hit a great freekick 63 minutes into the match. The crowd rose to their feet as Picoto's Cristóvão Velloso slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Marcelinho Paraibano. That made the score 1-4 after 65 minutes of play. Geovânio Bittencourt showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sílvio Luiz de Almeida, who was totally free with the ball in the 68th minute. If Cristóvão Velloso had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 71st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Cristóvão Velloso received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 75th minute. Marcelinho Paraibano tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Geovânio Bittencourt took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Romário Simão, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Marcelinho Paraibano made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cristóvão Velloso in the 81st minute of play. When Cristóvão Velloso came up free with the goalie in the 83rd minute, the Picoto 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 Cristóvão Velloso couldn't finish the play. After some fancy dribbling in the 90th minute, Cristóvão Velloso managed to get in a good position for a shot. Picoto's supporters rose to their feet, but Cristóvão Velloso was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Marcelinho Paraibano breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Benê Tinoco received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 93rd minute. Marcelinho Paraibano tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Germano Donatello sent away a hard shot on goal in the 96th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. When the match was over Picoto could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Mervesta throughout the match.