Brazil 0-0 Venezuela
Brazil will have to wait to book their ticket to the Copa America knockout stage. The hosts were denied passage into the quarter-finals after they were held to a goalless draw by Venezuela despite putting the ball in the net not once, not twice, but three times.
However, all three goals were ruled out — the latter two with the help of Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
As noted in SBOBET’s preview of this match, the Neymar-less Brazilians’ attack hasn’t looked all too convincing. And just like in their opening match against Bolivia, the boos rained down on Brazil from their own home fans after another subpar display.
There’s still no reason for Brazil to panic, though. They remain in a good position to progress to the quarter-finals heading into their final Group A match against Peru.
But this should serve as a wake-up call that the overwhelming favourites according to the Copa America 2019 betting odds still have a lot of work to do.
Highlights of the game
As one would expect, Brazil came out of the gates on the front foot as they bore down on Venezuela’s goal. However, they were unable to create too many notable Copa America 2019 highlights in the opening minutes.
Their first legitimate chance came at the quarter-hour mark. After a well-worked move, Arthur found David Neres open for a shot. But the Ajax forward disappointingly flashed his effort wide.
Brazil threatened again just seconds later through Richarlison. And while the Everton man got his shot on target, it was pushed away by Venezuela keeper Wuilker Farinez for a corner.
Venezuela finally got their first notable chance of the game after 19 minutes. Yangel Herrera’s cross found Salomon Rondon near the six-yard box, but the veteran striker’s header couldn’t find the bottom corner of Alisson’s goal.
It looked as if Brazil had broken the deadlock on 38 minutes as Roberto Firmino fired a shot past Farinez. However, it was waved off after Firmino was adjudged to have fouled Venezuela defender Mikel Villanueva.
Brazil would again be denied a goal at the hour mark. Gabriel Jesus — who came on at half-time for Richarlison — drilled the ball home after a pass from Firmino.
But after a lengthy VAR review, the goal was again waved away as Firmino was in an offside position when he got the ball after Jesus’ initial shot was blocked.
Brazil’s hat-trick of ruled-out goals was completed just a few minutes from full-time. Substitute Everton went on a brilliant run and fed Philippe Coutinho, who scored what looked to be a dramatic winning goal.
Unfortunately, VAR saw that the ball had hit Firmino, who happened to be standing in an offside position, thus cancelling the goal.
After being denied once again, Brazil continued to search for a winner in stoppage time. Left-back Filipe Luis drilled a cross into the box, but neither Jesus nor Firmino could get a touch on it.
Their final chance came in the 100th minute as Fernandinho found himself unmarked off a corner. However, his header went agonisingly wide as Brazil had to settle for a point.
Key statistics
Statistically speaking, Brazil looked quite dominant against Venezuela. The hosts controlled 69 per cent of possession and outshot the Venezuelans, 19-6.
But the most telling stat was the one which showed that despite that shot disparity, the two teams were actually equal in shots on target with just one apiece. For all of Brazil’s dominance, that just wasn’t good enough.
As for Venezuela, they must be thanking their lucky stars that VAR is in effect in this tournament. That’s because they’ve already had five goals against them overturned, four of which have been due to VAR.
What’s next?
Brazil will end the group stage with a matchup against Peru, who demolished Bolivia 3-1 in the other Group A match.
As mentioned earlier, there is no reason for Brazil to panic just yet. As Tim Vickery notes, no team with four points has ever failed to make the quarter-finals in a 12-team Copa America.
Although, Brazil went into the last group game of the Copa America Centenario with four points and were subsequently knocked out of the tournament after a 1-0 defeat to Peru.
The Brazil revenge factor was a major reason why that match was singled out as one of the key match-ups to watch in the group stage.
The Brazilians will certainly be aware of the threat the Peruvians pose and must prepare for a battle in order to secure that spot in the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, Venezuela are set to face bottom-side Bolivia in what will be a big match for them. They will go through to the knockout stage if they win and the Brazil-Peru match has a loser.
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