Grêmio Lets Victory Slip Away in Final Minutes

Playing with only ten men on the field and with less than five minutes to go, Grêmio led Ponte Preta 1-0 at Moisés Lucarelli Stadium and seemed ready to snap its four-game winless streak. But the defense was not able to hold, allowing Ponte to score a late goal and let victory slip away. The result means Grêmio (5 pts), who despite moving up to 17th place, will have to spend at least one more round in the relegation zone. Ponte Preta (8pts), meanwhile, dropped into 10th place with the tie.

A horrific display of erred passes and missed opportunities was what the attendants at Moisés Lucarelli were treated to in the first half. Galatto should have been charged admission as Ponte was unable to produce a single scoring threat. Grêmio, for its part, managed a shot on goal in the 18th when Hugo’s blast went wide of its mark. A truly unremarkable display by both teams.

While Grêmio managed to avoid suffering any goals, they did not escape the first half unscathed. In the 35th, Maidana took down Luís Mário and was sent off for his second bookable offense. If mustering any offense was difficult with 11 players, trying to score with only 10 seemed impossible. To compensate, Mano Menezes pulled Ricardinho and put in Tcheco to beef up the midfield.

The strategy worked. Despite its numerical advantage, Ponte Preta was unable to capitalize, while Grêmio produced several scoring opportunities on counter-attacks. On one such opportunity in the 20th minute, Lucas received a pass down the right side from Hugo and crossed into the area to Ramon, who knocked the ball into the net: Grêmio, 1-0. In order to protect the lead, Mano pulled Ramon in favor of Evaldo and the Tricolor spent the rest of the game on the defensive. This tactic proved fatal, as Ponte pressured and, in the 41st, tied the game on an Emerson blast from outside the area: 1-1.

With its winless streak now at five games, Grêmio will try to return to its winning ways when it hosts 6th place Goiás (11 pts) on Wednesday.

Ponte Preta (1)	Grêmio (1)
Emerson (86')	Ramón (65')
Preto (16') Luciano Baiano (39') Luís Mário (56')	Maidana (15') Maidana (35') Galatto (80')
Venue:  Moisés Lucarelli Stadium, Campinas (SP)
Ponte Preta: Jean; Luciano Baiano, Preto, Tiago Mathias and Iran; Ricardo Conceição, Da Silva (Wanderley, HT), André Silva (Tuto, 69') and Danilo (Emerson, 69'); Almir and Luís Mário. Coach: Oswaldo Alvarez	Grêmio: Galatto; Alessandro, Maidana, William and Wellington; Sandro, Nunes, Lucas and Hugo (Rudnei, 69'); Ramón (Evaldo, 78') and Ricardinho (Tcheco, HT). Coach: Mano Menezes