São Paulo and Cruzeiro tied 1-1 on Saturday at the Castor Cifuentes stadium in Nova Lima, metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, for the debut in the Brazilian Women's Championship. The goal for Cabulosas was scored by Marília. Dudinha equalized for Tricolor. São Paulo will be back in action next Tuesday, when they host Avaí Kindermann at the Marcelo Portugal Gouvêa stadium in Cotia, at 3:00 pm (Brasília time). Meanwhile, Cruzeiro will face Flamengo at the Luso Brasileiro stadium in Rio de Janeiro, on the same day, at 8:30 pm.
The match was characterized by a first half with little movement, marked much more by the defensive power of both teams than by any dangerous plays. However, the second half was much more interesting, with goal opportunities for both sides. Cruzeiro opened the scoring just ten minutes into the second half, when Bianca Brasil's free kick found Marília's head, who finished perfectly, leaving no chance for the goalkeeper Carlinha, who stretched out but couldn't reach the ball. São Paulo responded at 16 minutes, with Dudinha receiving a cross-field pass, taking a shot from outside the box and hitting the crossbar. Shortly after, at 28, Maiara had a great opportunity to extend Cruzeiro's lead in the match, taking a first-time shot from the edge of the area, requiring a great save from the São Paulo goalkeeper. Finally, after being on the attack for most of the second half, São Paulo was rewarded with the equalizer at 38 minutes, when Dudinha received the ball, cut through the defense, and scored a beautiful goal in Nova Lima.
With little time remaining, the balanced match continued. Both Cruzeiro and São Paulo went on the attack in search of victory, but the defenses prevailed, and both teams had to settle for the draw in Minas Gerais.
