Santos FC booked a place in the semi-final of the Paulistao on Sunday after a convincing 2-0 win over Red Bull Bragantino. Santos will only know their semifinal opponent after the last quarter final game between Sao Paulo and Novorizontino. (More Football News)
Santos will have to wait till Monday to know their semi-final fate with Sao Paulo and Novorizontino going head to head in the last quarter-final.
Neymar showcased his class eight minutes into the game as he won a free-kick on the flack, and fired it with a powerful shot that surprised Brigantino's defense and opened the scoring.
After an early goal, both teams settled, taking proper defensive shapes, and were unable to break each others’ walls.
The momentum seemed to have turned midway into the first half when Pedro Henrique hit the crossbar, narrowly missing the equaliser.
The second half saw Bragantino stronger and displayed aggressive intent with Pitta posing a lot of threat. However, the Santos defense remained resilient.
Neymar once again started to make the opponents dance to his tunes and Schmidt took the opportunity to fire home to double the lead and eventually sealing a spot in the semi-final.
