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At the Jorge Ismael de Biasi Stadium, Corinthians, the current state champion, Copa do Brasil and Supercopa do Brasil holder, was defeated by Novorizontino 1-0 and ended up eliminated in the semifinals of the 2026 Paulistão.
The first half was technically weak, even though both sides showed plenty of effort.
Timão actually had more possession, managed to get shots off with André and Matheus Bidu, but barely troubled goalkeeper Jordi.
The team from the countryside didn’t do much differently and hardly posed any threat to Hugo Souza.
After the break, Memphis Depay and Matheuzinho narrowly missed the target, while Robson headed dangerously to add a bit of excitement to the semifinal.
Showing their strength at home (having won all their Paulista home matches), Novorizontino opened the scoring with Mayk, who finished at the far post after a cross from the right by Robson.
Throwing everything forward, Corinthians launched into attack in an attempt to equalize, with goalkeeper Hugo Souza even going up for a corner to try a header, but without success.
🚦 What happens now
With the win, Novorizontino returns to the Paulistão final after 36 years! The only previous final for the Tigre do Vale was in 1990, when they lost to Bragantino.
Novorizontino, in fact, has accumulated 22 points (16 points in the first phase + 6 points in the quarterfinals and semifinals) and could decide the title at home!
Palmeiras (16 points in the first phase + 3 points in the quarterfinals) can still overtake the Tigre do Vale if they beat São Paulo and surpass them on tiebreaker criteria (goal difference 8 x 5).
With their hopes of a Paulista title repeat sunk, Corinthians now turns its attention to the Brasileirão.
Timão returns to the pitch only on March 11, when they host Coritiba at the Neo Química Arena, for the fifth round of the national championship.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.