The striker was relieved on Sunday when Brazilian sensation Neymar scored his first goal since rejoining Santos FC, despite continued criticism for his poor play since coming back to Brazil.
The São Paulo state tournament match took place in the Vila Belmiro stadium, home of the ‘Peixe’, and the captain of Santos started the scoring in the 14th minute of a 2-1 victory over Água Santa by converting a penalty.
The penalty was awarded to the 33-year-old winger after he connected with Venezuelan forward Yeferson Soteldo but was pulled down inside the area by opposing midfielder Villian Guilherme.
Goalie Luan Ribeiro dove the other way, but Neymar calmly sent the ball into the bottom right corner, surprising him. Neymar scored his 139th goal for Santos, a coastal city close to São Paulo, in 234 games.
This goal is also noteworthy because it is the first he has scored since October 3, 2023, when he celebrated in an AFC Champions League victory for his old team, Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, over Nassaji of Iran.
Forward Thaciano added to Santos’ advantage in the 26th minute by tapping in a cross from Guilherme, a standout winger who has been instrumental for the Alvinegros this season.
With a spectacular long-range goal in the 43rd minute, visiting midfielder Netinho gave Água Santa the lead back.
Neymar, who ended his contract with the Saudi squad at the end of January after injuries had limited his playing time, scored his first goal in his fourth game since rejoining the team where he started his career.
Neymar had not yet scored or provided an assist when he returned home, and the media criticized him for his subpar physical and footballing performance.
In addition to relieving pressure on Neymar, Santos’ partial advantage over Água Santa, a team that competed in Brazil’s fourth division the previous year, also helps ‘Peixe’ stay on course with two rounds left in the Campeonato Paulista’s first stage.
With this win, the Alvinegro team has moved up into contention after starting the tenth matchday outside of the quarterfinal qualification spots.
