Santos beats Corinthians and expands rival’s crisis

Santos and Corinthians faced off at Vila Belmiro in the 2024 Paulistão. The Peixe triumphed 1-0, confirming their good form and further plunging Timão down the table, now occupying the relegation zone in the competition.

The match saw Neymar in one of the Vila’s boxes. The idol was hailed by the Santos fans.

Photo: Marcos Ribolli

Cássio was honored for his 700th game wearing the Corinthians jersey. The traditional number 12 was made with a jigsaw puzzle, symbolizing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The goalkeeper is an activist for the cause because of his daughter, Maria Luiza, who has autism.

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Santos 1-0 Corinthians

The Peixe was the favorite in the confrontation and had a great first half, creating numerous opportunities and not allowing Corinthians to breathe.

Just 7 minutes in, Corinthians appealed for a penalty in the clash between Maycon and João Schmidt in the box. The referee waved play on, and VAR didn’t recommend a review.

Photo: Marcos Ribolli

In the next minute, Otero made a great individual play down the right and crossed. Cássio touched the ball slightly, enough to prevent Guilherme from heading it into the goal.

At 16 minutes, Pituca got the rebound from the corner, crossed, and Willian headed wide.

Santos opened the scoring at 22 minutes. Otero delivered an excellent corner, João Schmidt shrugged off Romero’s marking and rose alone to score.

Photo: Santos FC

The Peixe posed a threat in aerial balls. At 29 minutes, Otero took a free-kick into the box, and Willian appeared to head towards the near post. The ball narrowly missed the post and went out.

At 34 minutes, Wesley cut inside and struck a powerful shot, but João Paulo made a headline save.

At 41 minutes, Guilherme advanced on the counter, cut inside, and shot. Cássio made a save into the middle of the area, but Willian Bigode missed the follow-up.

At halftime, neither team made changes for the second half.

Five minutes in, Otero took a free-kick into the box, the defense cleared, and Willian got the rebound. The striker shot, Nonato deflected it in the six-yard box but sent it wide.

At 11 minutes, Fagner crossed to the far post, and Wesley headed wide.

At 13 minutes, Yuri Alberto came on and was the target of taunts from the Santos fans. At 23 minutes, he attempted a shot from outside the box but blazed it over.

At 28 minutes, Aderlan attempted a cross from the right, mishit the ball, hit the crossbar, and nearly scored a stunner.

At 29 minutes, Santos launched a counter, Guilherme passed to Morelos at the edge of the box, who shot across goal, narrowly missing the post.

Corinthians only posed a threat again in stoppage time. At 49 minutes, Rojas struck a free-kick from outside the box, and the ball hit João Paulo’s chest.

Timão quickly regained possession, and Garro attempted a long-range shot, saved by João Paulo.

The Peixe secured their fifth victory in the Paulistão, while Corinthians suffered their fifth consecutive defeat.

Corinthians and Santos’ Campaigns in the Paulistão

Corinthians started the Paulistão with a victory over Guarani but then suffered losses, leading to the dismissal of Mano Menezes. From the second round, they lost 1-0 to Ituano and São Bernardo, the latter with a player advantage since the 14th minute.

They were defeated by São Paulo at the Neo Química Arena for the first time in history, and the final straw for Mano Menezes was the 3-1 loss to Novorizontino at home.

Against Santos, Corinthians had assistant Thiago Kosloski on the sidelines. Now, they await António Oliveira to try to revive the struggling giant.

Corinthians is bottom of their group and second to last overall in the 2024 Paulistão.

Meanwhile, Santos is in a spectacular phase. After their unprecedented relegation in 2023, there were doubts about Santos for 2024, but Fábio Carille’s team shows maturity, plays good football, and above all, achieves good results.

The Peixe leads the Paulistão overall, with 5 victories and only 1 defeat (against Palmeiras). In just 6 games, Santos has already surpassed the campaigns of the previous 3 years in the Paulistão.

1	Santos	15	6
2	São Paulo	13	5
3	São Bernardo	11	6
4	Palmeiras	10	4
5	Red Bull Bragantino	10	6
6	Ponte Preta	9	6
7	Novorizontino	9	6
8	Botafogo-SP	8	6
9	Água Santa	7	6
10	Mirassol	6	5
11	Inter de Limeira	4	4
12	Guarani	4	5
13	Ituano	4	5
14	Portuguesa	3	5
15	Corinthians	3	6
16	Santo André	2	5

Written by Henry Miller.