Ceará vs. Guarani

Ceará vs. Guarani
Estádio Castelão
7 Novembro 2006
1930

Ceará faced Guarani of São Paulo in a match Tuesday night at Castelão in Fortaleza. The Cearense were not able to atract quite the large crowd as at their home game versus São Raimundo, but the crowd still was quite enthusiastic as the match began. Early, the teams raded chances. Ceará seemed to lack the teamwork and fluid midfield play that has characterized their play of late, instead relying on individual runs through the defense, which produced few chances and no goals in the first half of play. Guarani had a number of close chances in the first half, a few denied by great goalkeeping, and a few sailing wide of the mark. The teams headed to the locker room with the score knotted at zero, after a first half marred by numerous yellow cards for late tackles and other misconduct.

The teams returned from the break, and Ceará quickly created a great scoring chance on a cross into the box that was pushed just wide of the net. Ceará soon brought on a substitute who made an immediate impact by crossing the ball into the penalty area right to the head of a Cearense attacker. Unfortunately, the attacker headed the ball directly to the Guarani keeper again failing to capitalize. Later in the half, Guarani had a series of chances to win the game, but pushed the ball high or wide multiple times, and were stymied by excellent goalkeeping as well. As the 90th minute of the match arrived, the referee signalled that there would be two minutes of stoppage time added. The match seemed headed for a 0-0 draw and fans began to file out of the stadium, when with less than 30 seconds left, the referee signalled for a penalty kick after a Guarani attacker fell to the ground in the penalty area. This seemed to place the victory on the foot of Guarani, but an incredible stop by the Ceará keeper kept the match scoreless. The referee blew the final whistle a few seconds later, and Ceará escaped with a draw, remaining in 14th position in Serie B, three points out of the zone of relegation.

First Half Action


Ceará on the Attack
The Referee Books a Ceará Defender

Second Half Action