Atlético Mineiro and Chapecoense played out a 1-1 draw in the Brazilian Serie A at the MRV Arena on Friday evening. The hosts took the lead before half-time but could not hold on to win what promised to be a routine home victory. By then, the visitors had settled into a defensive shape that frustrated their opponents.
Tulio Eduardo Silva De Oliveira gave Atlético Mineiro the advantage in the forty-fourth minute, finishing from a well-worked build-up that kept Chapecoense's back line moving backwards. The goal came as the hosts were letting the game flow in their favour, with possession at 66 per cent and shots on target already at five. To be fair, the visitors had not looked particularly dangerous before that moment.
Chapecoense responded in the sixty-ninth minute when Mateo Cassierra equalised from close range. And here's the thing about this game — the visitors created fewer big chances but took theirs more clinically. The hosts had four to the visitors' two, yet the scoreline reflected a different story.
The statistics tell a familiar tale of dominance without reward. Atlético Mineiro registered eleven shots on target against Chapecoense's single save, and their expected goals figure of 2.21 sat well above the visitors' 1.13. The hosts kept knocking on the door for another goal but could not find the breakthrough. Chapecoense's goalkeeper made eight stops to keep his side in the match.
Both sides made changes to try and shift the momentum. Atlético brought on Luis Eduardo Marques dos Santos and Maycon de Andrade Barberan in the seventy-first and eighty-first minutes, while Chapecoense introduced Giovanni Augusto and Bruno Pacheco in the eighty-second. The visitors also brought on Yago Felipe in the eighty-eighth minute as they looked for something to break the deadlock.
The result leaves Atlético Mineiro seventh with forty points from twenty-seven games, while Chapecoense remain bottom with eighteen points. We had backed the hosts to win with sixty-two per cent confidence, but the match went another way. The visitors switched off at a set piece when they needed to be sharper, and that was enough to cost them the game.
