Fortaleza stumbles against Internacional in Brazilian Serie A

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) — Fortaleza missed the chance to move to the top of Brazil’s Serie A on Wednesday, suffering a 2-1 defeat at Internacional.

Alan Patrick gave the hosts the lead with a goal in the 21st minute, but Cristian Chagas equalised shortly before half-time.

Seven minutes from time, Gustavo Prado restored Internacional’s lead with a powerful left-footed shot.

However, the visitors’ chances of winning were virtually gone two minutes later when Emanuel Britez received a second yellow card after a careless foul.

Fortaleza is in second place in the 20-team table with 48 points from 25 games, two points behind leaders Botafogo. Internacional is in eighth place, 13 points behind.

“We didn’t start the game well. Inter were better in the first 20 minutes, we fell far behind and were only able to take the initiative after conceding the goal,” said Fortaleza coach Juan Vojvoda.

“We reacted well, equalized and the second half was more balanced. We know that we can still improve significantly.”