Chapecoense Tribute - Rewriting History

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February

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The first of our last three games was against Serie B side Criciuma. It was a tight affair, once again only decided by the converted spot-kick, this time there was no doubting the decision to give the penalty. Our defence continued their fine form, with Danilo once again pulling off a string of magnificent saves.

Our penultimate game of the opening stages was at Serie D club Metropolitano and this one could easily have gone horribly wrong for us. After Gomes' opening goal we were in control, albeit with a slender lead. 88th minute and Marcelo gives a foul away in the box, penalty decision is given and they have the opportunity to ****** a point and ruin our 100% record. Luckily for us Danilo was absolutely determined to continue his unbelievable run. He saves the penalty with a great dive to his right hand side, with that we grab our second goal moments later and confirm the 3 points.

The final match was against Avai, a decent Serie B side. The contest wasn't as tight as the scoreline suggests, we controlled the tempo of the game though out, it actually made very boring viewing, but another win and another clean sheet was exactly what we wanted.


League Table

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So 9 games, 9 unbeaten. We have now gone 8 games without conceding and we have scored and average of nearly 3 goals a game. We have secured our place in the Copa Perdigão do Brasil and now we go into the second stage of the State Champs, can we go unbeaten again?


Copa Perdigao First Round

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The draw has been kind to us, giving us Serie C outfit River AC as our first opponent in the cup. Given our recent form I can't see any other result other than a win



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February Part 2

State Chapionship Stage 2
Results

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Well what can I say about the two results against Inte de Lages and Guarani de Palhaco that the scoreline doesn't already tell you. We was expected to beat both sides pre-match but I never expected to win by such large margins. We have really found our rhythm now and I go in to every game feeling like we will win. Our recent run of wins, goal scoring and 10 clean sheets has been the best start I could wish for, but what really matters to me and the fans is the Serie A, that's the trophy I want these guys to lift!


Stage 2 League

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March

Results

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We started March off with an away day at Figueirense, who are probably the second strongest team in Santa Catarina state behind ourselves. I was bitterly disappointed our 100% winning streak come to an end, but it wasn’t all bad, by avoiding defeat we had now broken a Chapecoense record for most games without losing. This was a tight game, although we still had the best of the play, we were just impotent in front of goal.

Back to winning ways with a victory of Joinville. This was another match were we controlled the tempo and created the better chances, our strikers just seem to have hit a dry patch after their whitewash of Inter de Lages and Guarani. It took a late thunderbolt of a freekick from Claudio Winck to take the three points. I was slightly worried about our inability to finish but I didn’t need to worry for long.

I introduced Lucas Gomes into a more central role against Brusque as he was started to get slightly alienated out wide and what a stroke of genius it was, if I say so myself. He was on fire, grabbing a hattrick and even setting up Caramelo for the first goal. We conceded once again which I wasn’t best pleased about but the goal was a wonder strike from 27 yards, not much Danilo could have done.

Another mauling, this time at home to Camboriu. Despite conceding 8 goals, the keeper was their best player. We had an incredible 47 shots in this game, registering 27 on target. Had their keeper not made so many saves we could have been looking at a cricket score. We were absolutely unplayable and some of the football we played was a joy to behold.

Oh dear.. I don’t really know what happened here. Our undefeated streak comes to an end, albeit in the 1st​ leg of our cup tie against River (PI), I am sure we will turn this around in the home leg. We were distinctly average today, our defenders being the best performers on the pitch showing how poor we were. I knew our run would come to an end eventually, I just hope it doesn’t continue in the cup.


State Closing Stage
League Table

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Manager's Player of the Month
Lucas Gomes

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I picked Gomes not only for his 4 goals but for his performances in general, as he finished the month with an average rating of 8.15. Unfortunately he picked up an ankle injury in the win at Camboriu and will be out for up to 6 weeks.


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April

Results

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April started with a tough fixture against Criciuma who have proven to be a tough opposition in the State Championship, their defence has been difficult to break down so far. This proved to be the same again, they really didn’t offer much going forward at all but their defensive unit was extremely hard to breach. We managed the break-through shortly after the restart with another goal from Rangel, sealing the win and continuing our unbeaten run in the States.

We faced another awkward customer next in the shape of Metropolitano. They were another team who play extremely defensive and do not concede many, again they also offer virtually nothing going forward. We beat them 2-0 as we did in the opening stages, this was nothing more than a training ground routine for the lads really.

After our shock first leg, round one defeat to River (PI), we needed to make sure there were no further slip ups at our own ground. This competition was of much higher importance compared to the States and we needed to ensure we met our minimum expectations of reaching the third round. Luckily the result was a lot more straight forward this time. River did give us more of a game then our last two opponents, but nothing that made me doubt the end result.

Our final game of this year’s State Championships was against third place Avai. Whilst our first place finish was almost confirmed with a 3 point gap over Figueiriense and +20 goal difference, we needed at least a point to confirm. We really struggled in what was a tightly fought contest. Avai took the lead late in the second half and it was really looking like we was going to lose our unbeaten record in the States in the last game. I brought on Canela in the 79th​ minute to add a bit of freshness to our attack, he definitely added a little extra spark and I was delighted when he grabbed a late equaliser with a well taken finish inside the box.


Santa Catarina Closing Stage
League Table

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State Champions

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I am delighted we won the Santa Catarina State Championships, although I haven’t done anything the team hasn’t already achieved in real life, sure we managed to achieve it in much greater style in this fictitious world, but the end result was still the same. What is really important for me is our performance in the Serie A and the Copa Perdigao.


State Awards

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This is not our formation, this was the popular formation used by most teams. You can see why certain sides were ultra defensive and struggled to score.


Copa Perdigao do Brazil
Secound Round Draw

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We have been given a relatively easy draw in both the 2nd and 3rd round draws. We are the favorites for both ties and I expect nothing less than progression into the 4th round.


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Serie A Season Odds

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I think the odds are a little harsh, not sure there was any need for the repetition either. I think it is also pretty ironic considering Athletic Miniero finished bottom of the league in the campaign IRL. We have Cruzeiro away in our first game so we will be hoping for a good start, this will be our first genuine test I feel.


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Sorry but America Mineiro finished in last place, Atletico Mineiro finished 4th IRL
 
lovely tribute and a great start - reckon you can have a good crack at the league!
 
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May

Results

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So the month of May saw the start of the Serie A campaign and our first match was against 3 times winners of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Cruzeiro. We near enough passed them off the park, we just had no real end product. Bruno Rangel’s finish was a well taken one, but this was a reaction to already being goal down. When Cruzeiro took the lead again shortly after, we never really looked like getting another. A disappointing start to the campaign but there were still plenty of positives.

We then had the first leg of our second round cup tie away at Salgueiro. We were expected to beat the Serie C side heavily so I was disappointed to have only won by the one goal margin. I did put out a much rotated side but the team we had out should still have easily done the business. I suppose what’s important was that we took the lead and two away goals in to the return home leg.

The win at Coritiba was a tense one but a fantastic one none-the-less. With the game being pretty even, although we still had the higher possession stats, we found ourselves level going into the final stages of the game. On 87 minutes we should have been awarded a penalty but the ref was obviously watching another game. 89 minutes and the ball comes in from the left, we have a shot but this is blocked by their defender. Club captain, Santana, was loitering on the edge of the box, about 25 yards out. The ball drops to him and he smashes it on the volley straight into the top left-hand corner. A superb goal from the veteran and a deserved 3 points!

A solid win in the second leg to Salgueiro sends us through to the third round, reaching our minimum expectations in the competition. The first goal from Martinuccio settled any nerves we may have had and we just enjoyed the game from then on. An easy victory but I still felt like we should have capitalised on our dominance and won by a higher margin.

The goal-fest against Palmeiras was a superb game for the neutral and was also a great testament to the teams fighting spirit. We took the lead on three separate occasions, each time Palmeiras pegged us back with an equaliser, that was until Martinuccio sealed the victory with a stunning strike. Lucas Gomes was once again terrific in a central role, if he can stay injury free for a long period then he will be pivotal to any future success.

The results to Vitoria was a difficult one to take, I felt like we should have at least taken a point from this one, if not the full 3 that we deserved. The problem we sometimes have is this ultra-defensive 4-2-2-2 (with two DM and two CM) teams like to play in Brazil. It’s obviously very difficult to break down, they don’t offer much going forward and it does allow us to control possession but a lot of teams are just setting up on the counter and try to hit us on the break. That was exactly what happened today, two shots, on goal, three points. It’s boring but effective.

Our last fixture of the month was against Fluminense, it turned out to be a bit of a stalemate with very little to report on. There was a combined total of 11 shots all game, only 6 on target. They took the lead early on so I was delighted when Neto got the equaliser and bagged us another point.


League Table

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June Fixtures

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