Mirassol closed out the first half of the Brasileirão in style, beating Grêmio 2-1 at the Maião to end their round of matches before the mid-season break on a real high. Bruno Santos and Edson Carioca did the damage in the first half, and although Carlos Vinícius pulled one back late on, Grêmio never really looked like completing the comeback.
It’s the kind of result that matters more than the table might suggest right now. Mirassol are still sitting in the relegation zone on 19 points, just two behind Grêmio, but this was their fourth win in eight matches after a genuinely rough start to the campaign, and there’s a sense the club is finally finding some rhythm under Rafael Guanaes. Grêmio, meanwhile, leave São Paulo with plenty to think about after a first half they’ll want to forget.
Mirassol Take Control Early
The home side wasted no time. Just fifteen minutes in, Igor Formiga worked space down the right and whipped a cross into the box, and Bruno Santos got there ahead of his marker to slide it home and open the scoring. Grêmio nearly responded straight away, Tetê forcing a smart save out of Walter after a driving run, but it was Mirassol who kept finding the better moments.
There was a scare for the home side around the half-hour mark, too. Denilson looked to have been sent off after a challenge, and for a minute or two it seemed Mirassol might have to see out the rest of the game with ten men. VAR stepped in, though, and the referee downgraded the decision to a yellow card. Whatever nerves that moment created didn’t last long. Not long after, Denilson made up for it entirely, setting up Edson Carioca for Mirassol’s second just before the break. 2-0 at half-time, and Grêmio looked well short of their usual selves.
Grêmio Push Back, But It’s Too Late
Grêmio made a string of changes after the break trying to find a way back into it, and for a while Mirassol kept them at arm’s length without too much trouble. Reinaldo forced a big chance around the hour mark that Bruno Santos couldn’t quite turn into a third goal, and the home side will probably feel they should have put the game further out of reach before Grêmio found their goal.
It arrived in the 77th minute. Cristian Pavón picked out Carlos Vinícius with a cross into the area, and the striker got across his man to head it home and cut the deficit to one. That set up a nervy final stretch, Grêmio throwing bodies forward and Mirassol’s back line having to dig in, but the equaliser never came. Mirassol held on, and the celebrations at full time told you exactly how much the win meant to a club that started this Série A campaign with just one victory from its first ten games.
For Grêmio, it’s another away day to forget in a season that’s had plenty of them. Luís Castro’s side have struggled on the road all year, and this defeat leaves them still searching for the kind of consistency that would push them away from any lingering relegation worries of their own.
What’s Next
Mirassol are back in action on Saturday, 25 July, away at Vasco da Gama, in what’s shaping up as a genuine six-pointer given both sides’ positions near the bottom of the table. Grêmio’s focus shifts elsewhere first, they travel to Bolivia to face Bolívar in the Copa Sul-Americana on Thursday, 23 July, before returning to league action.
Match Facts
- Competition: Brasileirão Série A, Round 19
- Date: Friday, 17 July 2026
- Venue: Estádio Municipal José Maria de Campos Maia (Maião), Mirassol, São Paulo
- Final Score: Mirassol 2-1 Grêmio
- Goal Scorers: Bruno Santos 15′, Edson Carioca 39′ (Mirassol); Carlos Vinícius 77′ (Grêmio)
Conclusion
This was exactly the kind of result Mirassol needed heading into the mid-season break, a home win built on a fast start and just enough composure to see out a nervy final twenty minutes. Grêmio will point to the two first-half goals as the difference, and they wouldn’t be wrong, but there’s a bigger pattern forming here too: this Mirassol side keeps finding ways to win matches that, on paper, they’re not supposed to be winning.
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Match data via Grêmio’s official match report.
