Maringa came through against table-toppers Botafogo PB with a 2-0 win in the second stage of Brazil's Serie C on Saturday evening. The result ended the visitors' run of two consecutive defeats and kept the hosts in fourth place with 30 points from 19 matches. By then, the match had already settled into a pattern of controlled pressure rather than open chaos.
The breakthrough came at the interval when Igor Morais turned against his own side at the 49th minute. Maringa never got out of second gear after that, and Gabriel Santos finally got over the line at the 84th minute to seal the result. The hosts were overrun in midfield throughout, winning 124 attacks to 108, though possession sat evenly at 50 per cent apiece.
Our prediction of a home victory came good, though the 43 per cent confidence level felt about right given how Botafogo had looked. They never got out of second gear properly after that first goal, and the visitors simply couldn't find a way back into the contest. The decision to keep things tight at the back paid off in the end.
Shots told a different story. Maringa registered 12 shots on target against just one for the visitors, while the attacking numbers showed 124 versus 108. Botafogo got more free kicks — 22 to 12 — but those didn't translate into anything meaningful. The visitors gifted the goal at the restart, and from there the game was effectively over.
Both sides picked up three yellow cards each, with Jhonata Varela and Yan Souto among those cautioned for the home side. The substitutions came thick and fast after the break, with Maringa bringing on Giovanni, Edison Negueba and three others in the final quarter. They got his substitutions spot on in terms of maintaining the intensity, even if the tactical shift wasn't dramatic.
Botafogo remain top with 33 points from 19 games, but the gap looks tighter now. Maringa sit fourth on 30 points and have picked up a win they needed after losing their last outing 1-0 away at Santo Cruz. The result doesn't change the hierarchy, but it does suggest the visitors aren't as invincible as the table might imply.