Saint Petersburg: Star striker Neymar and midfielder Philippe Coutinho pulled up injury-time goals as second-ranked Brazil brushed aside 23rd-ranked Costa Rica 2-0 in their second match in Group E at the ongoing 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup here at the Saint Petersburg Stadium on Friday.
Heading into the match, five-time champions were hoping to get their campaign at the showpiece event back on track following their disappointing 1-1 draw against Switzerland in the opening match.
Costa Rica, on the other hand, were too looking for their first win in the tournament as they came off in the clash on the back of a shocking 0-1 defeat against Serbia on a free-kick goal.
Prior to this match, the two sides had met each other twice in the World Cups with Brazil winning both the encounters.
And Brazil once again managed to repeat their heroics over Costa Rica with a convincing two injury-time goals.
In most of the first half, Brazil remained in possession while an organized Costa Rica side’s defense kept the former away from scoring.
Though Brazil’s strong attack had managed to breach Costa Rica’s defense on multiple occasions, the second-ranked team were failing to net the ball.
As early as in the third minute of the match, Brazil missed two chances when forward Bryan Ruiz lost the ball on the edge of the box and Philippe Coutinho’s shot went over the goal post.
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After missing several chances to score a goal, the two sides went into the half-time goalless.
Nothing was going in Brazil’s way but they entered the second-half all guns blazing.
The five-time winners started attacking relentlessly with Philippe Coutinho also firing a straight shot in the 58th minute, only to see Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas making no mistake to save it.
In the 64th minute of the match, Brazil once again got a chance to score a goal when Neymar struck a left-footed shot from outside the box but it went straight into the hands of Navas.
Neymar, who was roughed up in the first match as he committed 10 fouls, once again missed a big opportunity to put Brazil ahead in the 72nd minute as his shot went wide of the target after snatching the ball from Costa Rica’s Gamboa.
After the second half also ended at 0-0, the match went into the regulation time.
And Coutinho scored in the first minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 1-0 lead over Costa Rica in this World Cup clash.
Just two minutes later, Coutinho missed the chance to score his second goal as well as for Brazil.
However, Neymar too joined Coutinho in the injury-time as he notched his first goal of the World Cup to hand Brazil 2-0 win over Costa Rica.
With their first win of the tournament, Brazil now have four points from two matches they have played, and are almost certain to qualify into the next round.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica have knocked out of the tournament after failing to notch any point from two games.
Brazil will next lock horns with Serbia at Spartak Stadium in Moscow on June 27.
BRAZIL
Goalkeepers: Alisson , Cassio , Ederson
Defenders: Danilo , Fagner , Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Miranda, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva , Geromel
Midfielders: Casemiro, Fernandinho , Paulinho , Renato Augusto , Fred , Philippe Coutinho , Willian Forwards: Neymar , Gabriel Jesus , Roberto Firmino , Douglas Costa , Taison
COSTA RICA
Goalkeepers: Keylor Navas , Patrick Pemberton, Leonel Moreira
Defenders: Cristian Gamboa, Ian Smith , Ronald Matarrita , Bryan Oviedo , Oscar Duarte, Giancarlo Gonzalez , Francisco Calvo , Kendall Waston, Johnny Acosta
Midfielders: David Guzman, Yeltsin Tejeda , Celso Borges, Randall Azofeifa , Rodney Wallace , Cristian Bolanos Bryan Ruiz
Forwards: Daniel Colindres, Joel Campbell, Johan Venegas , Marco Urena.