Amazonas beat Maringá 3-0 in the Regular Season round 16 of Brazil's Serie C on Saturday evening. The visitors took all three points at the Maringá stadium without the home side firing a single shot into the net. It was a clean sheet performance that kept their top-half hopes alive.
Rafael Tavares opened the scoring in the 31st minute, finishing a move that had Maringá scrambling. The hosts pressed for an equaliser but N. Schiappacasse doubled the lead just after the break. He found space in the box and made no mistake in the 51st minute. By then Amazonas had extended their unbeaten run to eight across all competitions, and the crowd roared them on as the visitors settled into a comfortable rhythm.
Maringá had the better of possession but lacked penetration in the final third. They registered 148 attacks against 85 for Amazonas, yet the visitors registered three shots on target to match their hosts while the home side could only manage three of their own. The statistics tell the story of a game where Maringá camped in the final third but could not break through. Amazonas were second to everything in the opening period, then tightened things up and let the game flow.
The result leaves Maringá in fourth place with 30 points from 19 games, while Amazonas move to 13th with 26. The gap between them is four points, and the table goes out of the window in these games. Maringá will have to find a way to convert their dominance into goals if they want to climb higher.