Matheus Cunha said Cruzeiro’s two goals in a 2-1 loss to Universidad Católica were not defensible after the club’s second-round Copa Libertadores match at Mineirão on Wednesday night. The goalkeeper said the finishes came from very close range and that he had little chance to react.
“I think they were not defensible. Two headers from five meters away from me. I don’t think it was defensible,” Cunha said after the match in Belo Horizonte. He also said the fans backed him at the start of the game, something he described as especially important in a night that ended with Cruzeiro beaten at home.
The result added more pressure around Cunha, who has been facing criticism from part of the Cruzeiro support. After the team beat Barcelona de Guayaquil in Ecuador, he had already addressed the backlash directed at him, trying to keep the focus on his work rather than the noise around it. In Belo Horizonte, that tension has spilled into the stands before: against Bragantino, he was booed after conceding a goal and later applauded when Cruzeiro fought back to win.
That was not the only sign of the strain around the squad. In Cruzeiro’s 4-1 win over São Paulo, Cunha was reportedly targeted by a controversial message from midfielder Walace, a detail that fed the wider debate about the mood inside the club. The criticism has followed him from one match to the next, even when Cruzeiro has picked up results that might otherwise have eased the noise.
After the loss to Universidad Católica, Cunha said the only response now is to keep working because there is little time to dwell on the setback before Saturday’s match. “Keep working. The fans have their opinion. I received support at the start of the game, which was super important for me. Keep working. There is not much time to keep lamenting, it’s work for Saturday so we can get a good result,” he said.
He drew a firmer line when asked about the criticism itself. “My character and my nature always keep me standing. What comes from outside does not affect me. I work hard, I have a focused mind and I am Christian. The situation is with the board, which made the decision. Now, it’s to keep working to answer on the field,” Cunha said. For Cruzeiro, the immediate challenge is not the debate around the goalkeeper but the next result, and there is no time left for the second-round defeat to settle in.
