Two very interesting matches took place yesterday in Brazil as teams played decisive matches for the LNF's grand final. Magnus recorded another victory against Tubarão, which secured them a spot in the last stage, while Corinthians won against Joinville at home to take the lead in the second semifinal pair.
Magnus Futsal secures final in the LNF
After Magnus defeated Tubarão in the first match with a big 6-0 victory, all they had to do yesterday was to confirm that result to secure a place in the final.
>>> Magnus one step closer to the LNF final
And Magnus did just that with a 2-1 victory and couldn't have wished for a better start. After 30 seconds of the match, Leozinho found the back of the net for Magnus early lead.
Tubarão had to be more aggressive and their efforts paid off in the last minute of the first half when Ferrugem put away a nicely placed shot behind Magnus' goalkeeper.
As Tubarão had to push for the second goal in the second half, that left a lot of open space for Magnus chances. Just before full time, currently the best scorer of the LNF, Rodrigo, stole one ball in front of his own goal and put well placed shot back into Tubarao's empty net to confirm Magnus' victory and place in the final!
Interestingly, Magnus have not lost in the entire LNF campaign this year. They finished the regular season as the best team throughout all groups with 12 wins record from 12 games. In the playoff, they drew two time, but recorded another four victories.
Dates for the final will be decided at a later date. This will be Magnus' fourth final appearance. They won the LNF in 2014, and lost in the final in 2016 and 2019.
Corinthians take a big step towards the final
In the second semifinal match-up, recent Super Cup winners Corinthians hosted Joinville in their first semifinal match. So far, these two teams combined knocked-out teams with seven LNF titles. Joinville was seeded second in the playoff, while Corinthians were seeded as the sixth team.
Joinville took the first lead in the match when Genaro reacted well after one rebounded ball and put his team ahead. Corinthians pushed for the equalizing goal but were punished for their attempts. Joinville's players took advantage of one counter-attack and Igor Carioca found the net for a big 2-0 lead by the guests.
By the end of the first half, thanks to beautiful efforts by Deives and Murilo, Corinthians managed to equalize the match and we were in for an action-packed second half!
Both teams were looking for the goal, but were also careful not to give too much space behind. As opportunities were missed on both sides, finally, four minutes before full time, Deives scored his second goal of the match after a nice play. Joinville had to push with five players in the court, but Henrique took advantage of that situation and confirmed Corinthians' victory in the first semifinal leg.
Second leg will be played this Thursday (18:45 local time). Corinthians will look for at least a draw as that would take them to the final against Magnus.