Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Cruzeiro 1st with 78 points, Ponte Preta 12th with 49, 29 apart. On recent form Cruzeiro sat only 14th league-wide over the last five rounds, well short of their 1st overall. Scoring rates set the scale: Ponte Preta 0.89 scored and 0.95 conceded per game, Cruzeiro 1.5 and 0.68, with the league averaging 1.01.
Defeat had not touched Cruzeiro in 10 games, having scored in 6 consecutive games.
The sides have met 10 times in the GioScore results database: 3 wins for Ponte Preta, 2 draws and 5 for Cruzeiro, at 2.5 goals per meeting. History gives the home side just 40% of the wins in this matchup.
The venue was Estádio Moisés Lucarelli in Campinas, with room for 19,722 spectators. Half-time and full-time told different stories: it was 1-1 at the break, before 3 more goals closed it at 1-4.