Two Savarino goals in the first half guided Atlético-MG to victory against Santos‘ reserve squad on Tuesday night.
The Rooster beat the Peixe 2-0 at home to bounce back from a poor run of form after failing to win in their last two fixtures.
Atlético started the game against Peixe firing and it was no surprise they found the back of the just after three minutes. Santos defender Luiz Felipe made a terrible mistake at the back with a poor clearance that gifted Savarino the ball to make a one-two exchange with Nathan and slot home past goalkeeper John to break the deadlock.
It didn’t take long before the Rooster doubled their advantage with Savarino getting his second of the evening. Keno gave a lobbed pass to the midfielder, who volleyed his effort past the Santos goalkeeper following a fast break.
After the second goal, Atlético had several opportunities to add to their goal tally in the first period but couldn’t hit the target. Santos on the other hand, had two excellent chances to draw one back before the break but Atlético goalkeeper Everson saved one while the other went over the bar.
At the start of the second half, Santos came very close to scoring after taking advantage of a defensive error from Atlético. Once again, Everson was on par to deny Arthur Gomes a goalscoring opportunity.
The only downside to the victory for Atlético was losing Keno to injury. The midfielder was taken off in the 72nd minute after a bad tackle and was stretched out of the pitch and replaced by Savio.
With the win, Atlético moves within five points from the top of the table and one point behind second place São Paulo. Santos have now failed to win in their last three games and have slipped down to 10th place.
Santos will now turn their attention to the Libertadores final on Saturday against Palmeiras while Atlético will host Fortaleza in the Brazilian Championship on Sunday.
