Atlético Mineiro, led by former Celta coach Antonio Mohamed, was proclaimed champion of the Brazilian Super Cup this Sunday after beating Flamengo in a surreal penalty shootout 8-7 with 24 shots. Regulation time was reached with 2-2 at the Pantanal Arena in Cuiabá.
Argentine playmaker Nacho Fernández put the Belo Horizonte team ahead just before half-time, but Gabigol and Bruno Henrique came from behind for the Rio team less than ten minutes into the second half.
With the game completely broken, Hulk put the final 2-2 by shooting inside the area after a left with the head of the Chilean Eduardo Vargas.
Everson for three penalties
In the penalty shootout, Flamengo wasted up to four ‘match points’ and Mineiro took advantage of it to become champions with goalkeeper Everson as a great figure, who stopped three shots.
The Belo Horizonte team started the 2022 season like the previous one, lifting titles. To the League and the 2021 Brazilian Cup, it now adds the Super Cup.
In this way the Portuguese Paulo Sousa experienced his first disappointment on the Flamengo bench, who played in the final due to his status as runner-up in the League, while the Argentine ‘el Turco’ Mohamed reached glory at the first opportunity.
The two teams started stiff, something typical at this start of the season. A play with more than four passes in a row was a miracle.
The Mineiro seemed more in tune in the opening minutes, with Arana and Keno entering like a dagger from the left. Hulk saw them and wished them to make a hole between David Luiz and Fabrício Bueno.
With the powerful striker strongly marked, those led by Mohamed were lost in attack and the balance of the game began to tip in favor of the Rio de Janeiro team.
The ‘Fla’ had the best opportunities in the first half. The most active were De Arrascaeta and Gabigol.
Fabrício Bruno was also able to put his team ahead with a header from a corner that licked the post.
Nacho Fernández advances to Mineiro
But when Flamengo pushed the most, Nacho Fernández’s goal came, after catching in the area a bad rejection by Hugo Souza to a long shot by Arana, who is at a national team level.
The goal deflated Sousa’s pupils and emboldened Mohamed’s, who almost expanded through Mariano.
In the second half, the Fla came out with a different spirit. More biting, more incisive against a crouching Mineiro, an attitude that he ended up paying dearly for.
Come back Flamengo
In ten minutes, two blows from the Cariocas turned the scoreboard around. Gabigol signed the first. The play was started by Filipe Luis with a long pass to De Arrascaeta, who crossed tempered to the heart of the area.
Bruno Henrique nodded. Everson prevented the goal with a spectacular save, but nothing could stop Gabigol’s shot.
The game broke down completely with the tie and that’s where Flamengo moved better, coming back after ten minutes through Bruno Henrique, after a mistake by the Uruguayan Diego Godín in defense.
Hulk forces the shootout
The Mineiro was seen without the title and reacted in a big way. Mohamed’s changes also helped, such as the entry of Chilean Eduardo Vargas, recently recovered from injury. The savior was Hulk, the top scorer last year in Brazil and who had not appeared until then.
The chances followed one another for both teams in the final minutes, but the scoreboard did not move any further and the decision went to a crazy penalty shootout, in which the Mineiro better resisted the pressure.
Data sheet
Athletic Mineiro: Everson; Mariano, Nathan Silva, Diego Godin, Guilherme Arana; Allan (m.94, Guga), Jair, Nacho Fernández; Jefferson Savarino (m.72, Ademir), Keno (m.72, Eduardo Vargas) and Hulk.
Coach: Antonio ‘el Turco’ Mohamed.
Flamenco: Hugo Souza; Fabrício Bruno, David Luiz, Filipe Luís (m.81, Léo Pereira), Rodinei (m.81, Matheuzinho); Willian Arao, Joao Gomes, Everton Ribeiro (m.62, Lázaro); Giorgian de Arrascaeta (d.82, Vitinho), Bruno Henrique (d.71, Diego Ribas) and ‘Gabigol’.
Coach: Paulo Sousa.
Goals: 1-0, m.41: Nacho Fernández. 1-1, m.55: ‘Gabigol’. 1-2, m.63: Bruno Henrique. 2-2, m.74: Hulk.
Penalty shootout: 1-0: Hulk, goal. 1-1: Lazarus, goal. 2-1: Nacho Fernandez, goal. 2-2: Vitinho, goal. 3-2: Ademir, goal. 3-3: Diego Ribas, goal. 4-3: Arana, goal. 4-4: David Luis, goal. 5-4: Eduardo Vargas, goal. 5-5: Gabigol, goal. 5-5: Guga, Souza stops. 5-5, Arao, stops Everson. 6-5: Jair, goal. 6-6, Gomes, goal. 6-6: Everson, out. 6-6: Matheuzinho, Everson stops. 7-6: Nathan Silva, goal. 7-7: Leo Pereira, goal. 7-7: Mariano, Souza stops. 7-7: Bruno, out. 7-7: Godin, out. 7-7: Hugo Souza, out. 8-7: Hulk, goal. 8-7: Vintinho, Everson stops.
Referee: Brazilian Anderson Daronco admonished Mariano, Nathan Silva, Jair, ‘Gabigol’, Gomes and David Luiz.
Incidents: final of the Brazilian Super Cup played at the Pantanal Arena, in Cuiabá, capital of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. There was a minute of silence for the victims of covid-19.
