Botafogo leveled the scoring with Matheus Babi in the first half. In the second half, Diego Souza was sent off for a bad foul on Guilherme Santos. After the sending off, the team from Rio Grande do Sul still got their victory, with two goals coming from Pepê.
At Central do Apito, the VAR Sandro Meira Ricci disagreed with referee Luiz Flavio de Oliveira on two occasions. Diego Souza’s goal was disallowed for a hand ball by Matheus Henrique during the game of play.
Sandro Meira Ricci also reviewed the red card offense by Diego Souza in the second half.
The striker who was tripped on the ground raised a boot at Guilherme Santos and hit him with his back of his boot. But for the VAR, there was an unnecessary play from the forward but the offense was not red card worthy.
Pepê was very decisive in his return for Grêmio and won them the victory over Botafogo. The 23-year-old scored Tricolor’s second and third goal of the day after the scores were at 1-1 in the second half. Pepê’s first goal came just two minutes into the second half.
In the 53rd minute after Diego Souza was sent off, Grêmio were down to ten men and were expecting the pressure from Botafogo but Pepê stood up and extended his side’s lead after receiving an excellent pass from Victor Ferraz putting the ball through Cavalieri’s legs to get the third goal for his team.
With the result, Grêmio move up in position on the table getting to tenth place with 20 points. Botafogo remains with 18 points just outside the relegation zone.
In the next round, Tricolor will face São Paulo in Morumbi while the Alvinegro team receives Goiás at Nilton Santos.
