May 5 – On Dorival Junior’s home debut, Yuri Alberto’s hat-trick lifted Corinthians to a dramatic 4-2 win against Internacional.
It was a night packed with VAR drama, before the striker stole the show with three goals to ensure the Sao Paulo giants came back from 2-1 down to run out 4-2 winners at home in front of a frenzied crowd. Corinthians had two goals ruled out following an on-field VAR review while Internacional saw Matheuzinho dismissed following a second booking.
“We are doing very well,” said Alberto (pictured), who has scored 68 goals in 178 matches for Corinthians.
“The manager still has a lot of ideas to implement, add to our plays and has helped us a lot to get closer to winning big titles. We know how great he is, the experience he has had with the national team, so he is a very respectable guy.”
In March, Dorival Junior was dismissed as Brazil manager following a 4-1 defeat to Argentina, but with the Corinthians role, he finds himself once again in the spotlight. Last week, he debuted with a 1-0 victory against Novorizontino in the third round of the Brazilian Cup.
“It’s exciting to experience a match like this,” said Dorival Junior. “We got the result in the end, thanks to the persistence and dedication of a team that didn’t give up and didn’t give up in the 90 minutes. We deserved the result.”
On Tuesday, Corinthians return to action against America de Cali in the Copa Sulamericana, South America’s second-tier club competition.
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