A hot Saturday in Porto Alegre was my debut at Beira-Rio that year, in a game that was worth nothing, other than an attempt to reassert myself after the defeat at greNAL.
The undefeated Sidnei Lobo in the bunker, and PH barred by suspension, left the team more obvious, with Matheus Dias acting as the first midfielder, and Luis Adriano as the center forward, reappearing in Beira Rio as an Inter player.
Mario Fernandes on the wing was the only position outside the starting lineup, and Inter’s only really flawed point.
Early on, Esportivo escapes on that side, and John makes a good save. In the second escape, a shot and a goal, as both Mario Fernandes and John were very poorly positioned, especially John, who opened the goal a lot.
From then on, the game was calm, the goals followed, with Wanderson taking advantage in all the individual moves and the team building the moves with patience, in some moments, even too much patience. Matheus Dias showed nervousness missing some passes, and De Pena still hasn’t resumed his first performances of the year.
On the right side, Johnny and Maurício understood each other, but Mario Fernandes played a game below criticism, insecure, and making wrong choices; even in the ball retreat to the goalkeeper, he made the ball come out chewed.
With the turnaround already in the first half, the game was even more relaxed, as Esportivo did not offer much resistance in defense, and little danger in attack, even with Inter all projected forward.
The second half was good for Inter, more confident, Matheus Dias was good in defense and had a good distribution of the game, Maurício also had a good match, and the proximity to Alan Patrick yielded another goal for Inter.
Only Mario Fernandes was still out of tune, completely out of the game. In his previous game, he had done well, but this game was dismal.
Luis Adriano showed that he is a center forward, with a good position in the area, with the ability to make the pivot, although still out of sync, and also showed that Wanderson plays better when the team has a reference in front.
The addition of Alemão changed the team little, but gave the impression of a player out of shape, heavy in movement, different from that Alemão at the end of the year. I think he conceded the penalty, but he needs to control his reactions, the takedown didn’t have to be flashy. He was also rewarded with an opportunistic goal, from a striker who plays in the area. The fans are very fond of Alemão, but he needs to help himself a little to get back to last year’s form.
The arrival of Bustos made it clear that the right side with Maurício and Johnny and he gets along very well, but there are 11 players, and Mano will need to make choices to balance the team, something he hasn’t managed yet.
In the end, although the game was expected to be calm, it started badly, but then Inter overcame the opponent with some ease. The problem is that the inattention and weaknesses shown at the beginning of the game cannot be repeated in more decisive matches, as the opponent does not always have defensive quality.
I could not fail to comment on Renê’s game, our discreet left-back who has been showing regularity and playing good and excellent games.