Botafogo lost 3-2 to Athletico on Monday the 24th at the Nilton Santos Stadium, in Round 24 of the Brazilian Championship. Two defensive lapses proved costly, and when the Black and Whites had the chance to respond, bad luck met an attack short on finishing quality.
Match review
Two mistakes at the back gave Athletico the advantage they needed. Botafogo tried to respond, created clear chances and scored twice through Santi Rodríguez, but wasted far too many opportunities. Good openings ended with shots dragged wide, poor finishes and a ball that simply refused to go in. There was bad luck, no question. There was also not enough quality to turn attacking pressure into goals. The comeback made the scoreline less painful, but it did not erase the mistakes that built the defeat.Starters
- Gabriel Batista: Poor guy.
- Vitinho: Saw plenty of the ball. Did nothing with it.
- Nahuel Ferraresi: Poor guy.
- Gabriel Justino: Did nothing.
- Alex Telles: Lovely hair.
- Allan: Neither bad nor good. Quite the opposite.
- Edenílson: Kept it basic.
- Cristian Medina: Same as Vitinho. Saw plenty of the ball and did nothing with it.
- Álvaro Montoro: Plenty of movement, very little progress.
- Kauan Toledo: Proving that academy kids can be just as bad as the older players.
- Danilo Pereira: Tried hard. Achieved nothing.
Second-half substitutes
- Huguinho: Defends badly and, when he attacks, looks as though he is still defending.
- Santi Rodríguez: After what felt like a year, he scored two goals that counted for nothing.
- Júnior Santos: Looked as though he were still at Atlético-MG.
- Kadir: Tried everything. Achieved nothing.
- Matheus Martins: Tried nothing and achieved nothing.
