Philippe Coutinho for the second successive time bailed Brazil out, scoring the opener in their 2-0 win over Costa Rica at the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Friday. It was the Selecao’s first win this World Cup after the disappointing draw against Switzerland.
Neymar de Silva scored the other, both goals coming during injury-time after Brazil threatened to end the same way they had against the Swiss-settle for an underwhelming draw after commanding the entire match.
The first came in the 91st minute and was after Firmino had beaten a host of Costa Rican defenders to bring down a Marcelo long ball inside the penalty box before laying it for Gabriel Jesus, whose poor first touch paved the way for Coutinho to score. It wasn’t as glamorous as his first some nights ago, but was just what the doctor demanded-slicing the ball through Keylor Navas’ legs.
But it should not have been kept that late had Brazil not been denied a penalty by VAR in 78th minute, when Neymar was elbowed by Giancarlo Gonzalez in the Costa Rican box. Referee Bjorn Kuipers initially pointed to the spot but later changed it to a free-kick after VAR had intervened.
The PSG star then soon had his redemption performing a tap-in from Douglas Costa’s through ball in the 97th minute.
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It was ‘Los Ticos‘ however who looked more organised in the first half-hour, not just defending deep but also countering Brazil on a number of occasions. They came close to scoring in the 13th minute when Christian Gambao stormed into the opposition box, only to hit the ball wide off target.
Their time in the Brazilian box nonetheless decreased as the five-time champions grew into the game. Marcelo, Coutinho and Paulinho stretched the Costa Rican defence to the end of string creating more space for Neymar-something their neighbours Argentina had so shambolically failed to do against Croatia.
But if the constant running of all three pushed Costa Rica to their own-hlaf, the introduction of Douglas Costa for an ineffective Willian tired them out-The Juventus wide-man wreaking havoc on the right wing.
Pushed to their limits by the indomitable Selecaos, the five-man defence of the 2014 quarter-finalists finally broke their resistance going down 0-2 despite keeping Brazil from scoring at the end of 90 minutes.
After a fairy-tale run in four years ago at the World Cup where they made to the quarters, Costa Rica will now head home straight from the group stage after failing to win both their matches. The first came against Serbia.