Santos Turnaround: Neymar and Gabigol Shine in Sudamericana

Santos walked into a trap, took two early injury blows, saw VAR cut them down twice, and still found a way. On a tense night at Vila Belmiro this Thursday (13), Peixe came from behind to beat Macará 2–1 in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana round of 16, with Gabigol and Willian Arão flipping a game that had started in chaos.

It was only their third win in 14 matches this year with Neymar and Gabigol both in the starting XI. This time, the stars didn’t just share the pitch. They dragged Santos over the line.

A wild first half: early shock, injuries, and Neymar’s warning signs

The script tore up after five minutes.

Luan Peres backed off, Arão couldn’t clean up the danger, and Franco Posse punished them, putting Macará 1–0 up and silencing Vila. From that moment, Santos’ mission changed: stop reeling, settle on the ball, and let their superior quality actually appear.

Gabigol took that personally. He started to find pockets, spin off defenders, and carve out chances. The equaliser felt close, but Santos were hit from another angle.

Cuca lost Gabriel Menino first, then Bontempo before the break, both to possible injuries. Two forced substitutions, a goal down, and a team that looked one misstep away from unraveling.

Then Neymar and Gabigol connected, and the mood shifted.

The No. 10 slid a precise pass into the box, the No. 9 did the rest. Gabigol’s finish brought Santos level and also marked his 100th goal in the club’s shirt, a landmark strike that finally ignited Vila.

Even Neymar’s night had its scare. He’d already changed his boots, then slipped and felt pain around his left knee, drawing a collective gasp from the stands. He got up, carried on, and kept demanding the ball. The game, increasingly, belonged to him.

VAR steals the spotlight

Santos came out of the dressing room like a side determined to kill the tie early. The pressure mounted, the chances came, and Gabigol twice thought he’d turned the game on its head.

Twice, VAR cut him down.

The first disallowed goal came after a clever Neymar dummy that opened space for the No. 9 to score. Offside. The second followed a perfect through ball from the No. 10, another sharp finish, another celebration strangled by the replay. Offside again.

Each intervention tightened the tension. The stadium seethed, the players raged, but the scoreboard refused to move.

Arão steps up as the unlikely hero

Santos didn’t fold. They pushed Macará back, tried to outplay not just a disciplined opponent but the anxiety of a team that knows every mistake can turn into a crisis.

Once more, Neymar changed the game.

This time it was from the corner flag. A sharp, unexpected delivery caught the Ecuadorian defense flat-footed, and Willian Arão attacked the ball to finally make it 2–1. His first goal in a Santos shirt, arriving when the team needed someone new to share the burden.

From there, Santos managed the advantage. They were the better side, created more, and imposed their tempo. The margin, though, stayed narrow. One goal up, no room for comfort.

The tie is open – and the pressure doesn’t let up

The second leg is set for next Thursday (20) at Estadio Bellavista. Santos travel with the edge: a draw is enough to see them through. Macará, though, know the equation clearly. They must win by at least two goals to qualify in regular time; a one-goal victory drags the tie to penalties.

Waiting on the other side of the bracket are Atlético or Red Bull Bragantino. Galo hold a 1–0 lead from the first leg in Bragança, and whoever survives that clash will meet the winner of this turbulent Santos–Macará duel.

Before thinking about Bellavista, Peixe have to look down the Brasileirão table. They sit as the team opening the relegation zone and now head to São Januário on Sunday (16) to face 18th-placed Vasco in a direct fight near the bottom.

Neymar and Gabigol finally combined to win a knockout tie. The question now is whether this spark came in time to rescue Santos’ season on more than one front.