📝 Cruzeiro 1-0 Corinthians: Cruzeiro one step closer to sixth title | OneFootball

A first-half goal from Thiago Neves gave defending champions Cruzeiro an important 1-0 victory in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil final.

Cruzeiro and Corinthians will face off in São Paulo for the second leg next Wednesday.

Cruzeiro completely dominated the match and Thiago Neves was the protagonist from the start.

The first action came in the 20th minute when Neves unleashed a shot from outside the box, forcing Cassio to make a fantastic diving save to his left.

15 minutes later, Neves hit a blast from similar range, this time beating Cassio, but the post would come to the rescue.

Cruzeiro and Neves finally broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time. From an Egídio cross, Neves’ header ricocheted off Henrique and into the net to give Cruzeiro a 1-0 lead.

Hernan Barcos nearly doubled Cruzeiro’s lead in the 64th minute, but his header flashed just wide of the post.

Dedé was able to get his head on an inswinging free-kick just 10 minutes later, but his effort went inches wide.

Corinthians will be without second-half substitute Ángelo Araos for the second leg, as a pair of late sloppy tackles saw him sent off in stoppage time.

Cruzeiro’s fantastic left-back Egídio will miss the second leg as a result of yellow card accumulation.