On Sunday night at the Arena, Grêmio and Fortaleza could only settle for a goalless draw, with both goalkeepers seizing the spotlight, saving one penalty apiece in the second half to keep the score level.
Juan Vojvoda’s team had one more player for much of the second half when Kannemann was sent off in the 59th minute, and should have gone home with a better result, but could only gain one point. They are still fourth, one point ahead of Bahia and one point behind second placed Athletico-PR.
Grêmio got out to a good start, and Rafinha had a goal scoring chance in the first few seconds, but the right back couldn’t locate the target. Fortaleza gradually gained a foothold in the game, mostly through right-wing counterattacks. In the area, Ronald played a through ball to Éderson, who found a way to beat Gabriel Chapecó, but the ball went over the goal.
In the 44th minute, Grêmio came close to scoring when Rafinha delivered the ball to Ferreira, but his shot struck the crossbar.
Both teams came back from the break determined to win. However, in the 59th minute, Kannemann took down Robson in the area, and the defender was instantly shown the red card while the visitors were awarded a penalty.
Chapecó, the goalkeeper for Grêmio, saved Yago Pikachu’s penalty kick to maintain the score level.
Referee Marcelo de Lima Henrique saw Osvaldo handle the ball in the penalty area in the 80th minute and gave a penalty to the hosts after checking the VAR.
The penalty was taken by Diego Souza, but Felipe Alves was up to the task, as the goalie blocked the forward’s effort to avoid any upset. Pikachu got another chance late in the game to make up for his miss, but he couldn’t hit the target and blasted his effort wide, leaving the score at 0-0 at full time.
The result leaves Grêmio bottom of the league at the moment and leaves Tricolor still searching for their first win of the current season.
