Grêmio saw off Chapecoense 3-1 at the Arena do Grêmio in the 25th round of Brazil's Série A on Saturday evening. The hosts pulled ahead early and held on despite a late reply from the visitors, who remain rooted to the foot of the table.
And here's the thing about this one — Grêmio struck twice in five minutes. Maurício Garcez headed home in the 15th minute, then Gustavo Martins doubled the lead before Chapecoense could settle. Cristian Pavón added a third just after the half-hour mark. By then the visitors had already gone to ground.
Chapecoense finally got back into the contest through Martins in the 56th minute, but Grêmio had extended their advantage well beyond that point. The hosts made several changes in the second half, bringing on Martin Braithwaite and José Enamorado together at the break. Bruno Matias and Maurício Garcez were paired off for one another in the 61st minute, while Danilo Barbosa came on for the hosts at the hour mark.
To be fair, the statistics tell a different story from the scoreline. Chapecoense created three big chances and registered 23 key passes against eight for Grêmio. They had 2.81 expected goals to 0.67. But shots accuracy sat at 28 per cent for the visitors — nine on target from 18 attempts — while Grêmio converted 42 per cent of their five efforts on goal. The hosts had 53 per cent possession and 540 total passes against 461.
Grêmio now sit 15th with 24 points after 24 matches, while Chapecoense remain 20th on 14 points. The visitors have won just twice this season and lost 14 times. This result ends a run of four consecutive draws and defeats for Grêmio, though they'll know they could have done better with the chances they created.
