Lucas Leads Grêmio Over Esportivo

First Ronaldinho Gaúcho. Then Anderson. Now, it appears that yet another prodigy is being revealed to the world at Olímpico Stadium.

Lucas, the 19-year-old midfielder who won a starting job this season, scored twice as Grêmio beat Esportivo 3-1 in its first home game since winning the Brazilian Série B title. The win keeps the Tricolor perfect in the Gaúcho State Championship and atop the Group 2 standings with 12 points. Esportivo (6 pts) dropped into 3rd place behind Veranópolis (9 pts).

With Esportivo playing for a tie, Grêmio found it difficult at first to get any offense going. The visitors gave Grêmio a scare in the 8th when Valdiran shot wide after Marcelo got tripped up by his own defense. The Tricolor got its first chance ten minutes later when Paulo Ramos found Lipatin inside the area. The striker took a decent shot, but Nivaldo was able to make the save. Grêmio finally broke the Esportivo blockade in the 30th. After receiving a pass from Maidana, Lucas took the ball from just outside the area, shook the defense and took his shot. Nivaldo got a piece of the ball but was unable to prevent it from penetrating the goal: Grêmio, 1-0.

Despite the score, it wasn't until the second half that Grêmio finally began to gel. In the 16th, Lucas took advantage of the rebound after Nivaldo wasn't able to hang onto a direct kick from Nunes and added to the lead: Grêmio, 2-0. But the crowd was still celebrating when Esportivo struck back. In the 19th, Dega was taken down inside the goal area by Marcelo Oliveira. Marco Antônio converted the penalty to cut the lead to 2-1. Grêmio suffered another blow when Lucas received a second caution and was ejected. With only ten men, Mano Menezes decided to pull back and protect the lead, allowing Esportivo to become more aggressive. But Grêmio's defense held and Reinaldo, who came in for the ineffective Lipatin, put the finishing touches on the victory, taking advantage of a miscue by Joel in the 46th. Final: Grêmio, 3-1.

Grêmio will now defend its Group 2 lead when it prepares  to take on last place Farroupilha next Sunday, in Pelotas. In addition to Lucas, who was ejected., the Tricolor will be without Marcelo Oliveira after the defender received his third yellow card against Esportivo.

Grêmio (3)	Esportivo (1)
Lucas (30') Lucas (61') Reinaldo (91+')	Marco Antônio (64' PK)
Marcelo Oliveira Nunes Lucas Lucas	Fabrício Diogo Fabrício
Venue:  Olímpico Stadium, Porto Alegre (RS)
Grêmio: Marcelo Grohe; Luiz Felipe, Maidana, Marcelo Oliveira and Escalona; Nunes, Lucas, Tcheco, Paulo Ramos (Marcos Rogério) and Ramon (Bruno Coutinho); Lipatin (Reinaldo). Coach: Mano Menezes	Esportivo: Nivaldo; Marco Antônio, Joel, Fabrício and Jal; Ronaldo Bagé (Maikol), Dega, Diogo and Caio (Fernando Aquiles); Valdiran and Rafael (Juliano). Coach: Nairo Pivatto