San Bernardo and Botafogo met in the Brazilian Série B on Friday evening, and the visitors took all three points with a 1-0 victory. The match took place at Estádio Préa do Maiu as part of the regular season's 22nd round. Patrick Brey scored the decisive goal in the 72nd minute, and that was enough to settle the contest.
The first half passed without incident, though San Bernardo began to press after the break. Hygor came off the bench in the 46th minute as the hosts tried to find an opening. Pará picked up a yellow card in the 48th minute, and then Wallace was replaced in the 58th minute. By then the match had settled into a rhythm neither side could quite break.
San Bernardo doubled their attacking changes in the 70th minute, bringing on both Hyoran and Pedrinho. Two minutes later Patrick Brey found space and scored for Botafogo. Victor Souza received a yellow card in the 77th minute, and then both sides threw on fresh legs—Foguinho and Romisson for San Bernardo, Matheus Sales and Rafael Gava in the 83rd minute. The hosts pushed but could not find an equaliser.
The statistics tell a curious story. San Bernardo held 64 per cent of possession but created only 0.78 expected goals from ten shots, three on target. Botafogo had just 36 per cent of the ball yet registered 1.6 expected goals from the same number of attempts. That price has gone—the visitors were more dangerous despite playing with less of the ball.
San Bernardo remain 14th in the table with 36 points from 26 games, while Botafogo sit 15th on 31 points. The result extends Botafogo's unbeaten run to two matches and leaves the hosts four points off their rivals. A derby with no love lost, decided by a single moment of quality.