Santos Women secured a 2:1 away victory over Vitoria BA Women in the Brazilian league's regular season on Friday evening. The result leaves the hosts rooted at the bottom of the table with just one win from seventeen games, while the visitors move slightly further clear of the drop zone.
What happened on the pitch remains unclear without minute-by-minute detail, but the statistics tell a story of chances going begging. Both sides shared possession evenly at 50 per cent, yet Santos managed to take their points despite going down to ten men. The away side had one red card compared to the hosts' clean disciplinary record.
Santos' record this season shows a team finding it difficult to string results together. They have won six, drawn five and lost six matches, sitting twelfth with twenty-three points. Their recent form has been patchy — a 4:0 win over Juventude was followed by defeats to Flamengo and Corinthians — but they showed enough resilience to edge this one.
Vitoria BA, meanwhile, have endured a season of frustration. Four draws and twelve defeats have left them on just seven points, their only victory coming at some stage in seventeen attempts. They had previously lost 1:0 to Santos back in October 2020, and this result adds another chapter to a difficult relationship between the two clubs.
The attacking numbers suggest a match where neither side could find their rhythm. Vitoria BA registered sixty-six attacks with six shots on target, while Santos managed seventy-four attacks and five shots on target. The difference between them was marginal, and that is often how these games are decided.