Monday night brought a tough reality check for Cruzeiro. The club, led by Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim, battled Mirassol on the road. It was a 1-1 draw in the 20th round of the Brazilian football league. This result means Cruzeiro has fallen further behind in the race for the title.
The team from Minas Gerais started strong. Kaio Jorge put them ahead early, finding the net after just five minutes. Matheus Pereira, a former player for Sporting and Desportivo de Chaves, set up the goal with a sharp pass. Things looked good, but the game held plenty of drama.
The second half kicked off with controversy. At the 47-minute mark, Cruzeiro was screaming for a penalty. They believed José Aldo handled the ball inside the box. The referee, though, saw nothing wrong and waved play on. This decision clearly got under Leonardo Jardim’s skin.
Jardim didn’t hold back when talking about the officiating. “Brazilian football needs to act,” he stated. “People are losing faith in VAR. I even have an idea: coaches should get two chances each half to ask the referee to review a play. Sometimes it’s called, sometimes it’s not. The first touch on the hand is accidental, but on the second, the ball goes to him, and he handles it like a volleyball set. That’s not accidental.”
The missed call felt even heavier when Mirassol found their equalizer. Negueba scored for the home side at 65 minutes. That goal sealed the 1-1 draw and left Cruzeiro feeling short-changed. It was a bitter pill to swallow after leading for so long and having that penalty shout ignored.
This draw leaves Cruzeiro in third place with 38 points. They are now five points behind Flamengo, who have played one fewer game. They also sit one point behind Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras, who have two games in hand. Mirassol, on the other hand, climbed to sixth place with 29 points, also with two games still to play. The road to the championship just got a little tougher for Jardim and his squad.