Ceará Falls to Goiás in Late Collapse at Castelão
Ceará suffered a damaging 2-0 defeat against Goiás on Tuesday night at the Arena Castelão in Fortaleza, conceding two goals in stoppage time during the 35th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. Diário do Nordeste reported that the match kept the Ceará squad stranded on 43 points with only three rounds remaining in the competition. The late goals dropped the team, known locally as Vovô, down to 16th place in the standings. A victory would have taken the team to 46 points and opened a nine-point lead over their rival, in addition to securing an advantage in the tiebreaker criterion of wins, with 12 wins compared to a maximum of 11 for their opponent. On the other side, Goiás had 49 points and sought victory to close the gap in the fight for a playoff spot, remaining three points behind sixth-placed CRB. The match marked the reunion of coaches Daniel Paulista and Mozart, who, curiously, were making their debuts against their current clubs after a reverse coaching carousel that had been in place since the beginning of the tournament, when they were in charge of opposing teams.
Stoppage Time Goals Seal the Defeat
The decisive breakthrough for the visitors arrived deep into added time as Ceará struggled to hold off a late surge. In the 46th minute, Lourenço delivered a corner kick, Rodrigo Soares flicked the ball onward, and Kadu Sousa scored with a clever backheel shot to break the deadlock at 1–0. Just three minutes later, at the 49th-minute mark, Kadu Sousa added his second of the night with a long-range lob over an advanced Caíque França, sealing the 2–0 victory for the Esmeraldino side.
Early Stalemate and Disallowed Goal
After the initial pressure, Ceará began to attack more and created several opportunities in the first half, including shots from Melk saved by Tadeu, dangerous shots from Saulo Mineiro, a header from Lucas Ribeiro for Goiás saved by Caíque França, and shots from Bryan Borges and Lourenço before the half ended goalless. However, the referee consulted VAR and disallowed the goal for a handball, despite the player’s arm appearing close to his body. The disallowed strike kept the score level as the match entered its tense final stretch, where both teams saw a drop in rhythm before the late visiting surge.
Relegation Battle and Upcoming Fixtures
Despite the setback, Ceará maintains a six-point cushion above Avaí, the team occupying 17th place and the top spot in the relegation zone. Vovô will look to secure their status in the upcoming round when they travel to face Athletic at the Arena Sicredi on December 2 at 18:00.
