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Jbc's Pentagon Challenge

Hoping to complete my first pentagon and thought it would be fun to share the journey!
Started on 30 May 2020 by Jbc199923
Latest Reply on 3 September 2020 by Jbc199923
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It's always gutting to lose a penalty shootout but you had a good go. There are plenty of good performers to be pleased with and a lot of confidence can be taken ahead of the league season.
1
Corinthians – Club 4 – Season 2 – Update 3

After our disappointing exit of the State Championships at the semi-final stage in my last update, our attention finally shifted to the Serie A season commencing. As well as the season kicking off, we are also enter the Copa do Brasil and compete in the next round of the Copa Sudamerica in an action packed month of football.

Results
We kicked off our season in excellent fashion with a 2-0 victory over Avai, before resounding 3-0 and 2-0 wins over Sport Recife and Ceara to make it 3 wins in a row.

Midway through the month we entered into the Copa do Brasil at the 5th round and were drawn against to Gremio in a two-legged tie, which was always going to be a tough affair. I took the view before the game that I wasn’t too worried about the cup this season and instead decided to give some of the fringe players a run out in order to rest some of our key players. Despite the rotation the players put in a solid performance overall and were unlucky to come away on the losing side in a narrow 1-0 defeat. It leaves us with some work to do in the second leg if we are to progress however as I mentioned, the cup is not a key goal for me this season.

We returned to league action with a 1-0 win over Botafogo just 4 days later before we travelled to Argentina to face Huracan in the first leg of our Copa Sudamerica tie. After a hard fought game we came away with a 1-0 win, meaning we had a crucial away goal to treasure going into the second leg at our stadium the next week.

In between the two legs we faced rivals Palmeiras in the first derby of the season, and the first real threat to our 100% start. We looked the better side from the get go and took the lead through a delightful Renato strike on 12 minutes and thought we were going to be leading into the break until a late strike saw Palmeiras draw level deep into stoppage time at the end of the first period. We came out strong again in the second half and continued to dominate in front of our home fans and eventually our persistence paid off as Mosquera further endeared himself to his new supporter with a 57th minute strike. We continued to look strong and went in search of a game winning goal, eventually finding a third in the 90th minute from young striker Edvan to confirm the 3 points.



Off the back of victory over our rivals we returned to continental action and looked to build on our 1-0 away win against Huracan. Before the game the media had given the visitors little chance of an upset and the players made sure a giant killing was not on the cards as they saw out a controlled 2-0 victory on the night to progress 3-0. The result saw us progress to the third round where we will faced Chilean side Colo-Colo in a couple of months time.



Overall a good run of form, only losing 1 of our 8 games, which was in the domestic cup as well as only conceding 2 goals in that time. Not a bad start to the season.



Table
After our great start to the season we find ourselves in second place (although Mineiro have played one more game than us). Gremio have also had a 100% start after 5 games so look like our closest challengers so far, but it is still early days yet.



Squad performance
Once again, our attacking players have been on fire so far this season with Renato (24) and Mosquera (22) leading the top goal scorer race after 20 games each. Assists wise, both fullbacks have been amazing so far with Ochoa picking up 14 assists in 19 games and Barcia recording 11 in 18. As mentioned, defensively we have been much better as well with a number of clean sheets recently, and Contreras has also impressed going forward with an impressive 3 goals and 3 assists from centre back.



Summary
A good run of form to start the season and progression to the next round of the Copa Sudamerica. Hopefully this will set us up to make a good title challenge as we head towards the halfway stage of the season in the next update.

*Thanks for all your comments recently and thank you for reading!*
It's going well so far and a 100% record in the league is very good going. It'll take a lot to continue in this vein of form with the number of games you lay in a season, but it looks as though you may well challenge for the title this season.
1
A perfect start to the Serie A season. Scoring plenty of goals in most games which always puts you in a good position as well as keeping them out. A perfect storm thus far.
1
Corinthians – Club 4 – Season 2 – Update 4

Following our good start to the Serie A season in the last update, I was hoping that we could continue our form and really put the pressure on the other title challengers from the outset. We don’t have any continental commitments for a couple of months now, so we have a real opportunity to focus on our domestic campaign and try and rack up as many points as possible.

Results
Our first game since the last update was at home to top of the league Atletico Mineiro and, despite their good start to the season, we managed to secure a fairly comfortable 2-0 win, before we returned to cup action just 3 days later as we welcomed Gremio for the second leg of our Copa do Brasil 5th round tie. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, I heavily rotated the side once again and this time the backup brigade managed to show exactly what they were about as the ran out 3-0 winners and looked good value throughout the game.

The first team returned as Serie A action returned to the forefront of our mind and we recorded 3 straight wins in the space of 7 days, including a 4-0 win away to rivals Santos who have had a dreadful start to the year and a 3-1 win over Goias which saw 3 penalties awarded and all three of our forwards finding the net.



We followed that up by welcoming second place Bragantino to our back yard, and they made themselves at home, securing a 3-1 win and condemning us to our first league defeat this season. We actually found ourselves 3-0 down after just 32 minutes in a terrible first half display and I was even more disappointed as if we had won that game we would have opened up a big gap at the top of the table.



We ended this update with a 1-1 draw away to Athletico Paranaense – not a bad result given that they find themselves in 9th place and a certainly in the mix for a Copa Libertadores place at this early stage of the season.



Table
Those results mean that we have moved 5 points clear at the top of the league, however Flamengo look like our closest challengers as they could potentially go top if they win their games in hand over the comping weeks.



Squad
The team has continued to perform exceptionally well, save the last 2 games, and we currently have both the top scorer and assister in the league within our ranks. Amazingly, Barcia has 9 assists from 11 league games and has more than double as many assists as the next highest player.



Cantu and Ochoa have also shone on the assist front with 12 and 14 respectively. Goals wise, Renato still leads the way with 27 in 26 games and Mosquera is also averaging a goal a game in his 25 appearance so far. Youngster Matheusao has also performed well when called upon and has 12 goals in just 7 starts.



Summary
A decent run of results in this update, although the defeat against Bragantino appears to have taken the wind out of our sails a little. Progression to the next round of the cup however is very promising and we will be back in action in that competition in the next update.

*Thanks for reading once again and for your continued support!*
A shame about those last two as wins there would have put you clear at the top. But nonetheless, you are going well and the attacking threat you have is obvious with all these goals and assists.
1
A pretty poor performance against Bragantino. It'll be interesting to see how you respond following those last couple of games. The league table does make for enjoyable reading so far though.
1
Corinthians – Club 4 – Season 2 – Update 5

Welcome back to my Pentagon Challenge as we approach the half way stage of my first full season in Brazil as manager of Corinthians. During this update we have a mixture of league, cup and continental action in a big month in our season.

Results
As mentioned, this is a big month for us in the context of our season and we kicked off with an away win over Vasco da Gama in an entertaining 4-2 victory. Matheusao was handed a rare start up front and repaid the faith shown in him with 2 goals in the opening 9 minutes. Mosquera and Cantu further extended our advantage before the break before Gama mounted a late comeback with little success.



We returned to cup action in midweek at home to Mineiro and with a heavily rotated team could only muster a 0-0 draw ahead of the second leg in a weeks time. In between the two legs, we faced Gremio, who we knocked out in the previous round and we demolished them 4-0 in front of our home fans to extend our lead at the top of the table.

We then headed into the second leg of the Copa do Brasil quarter finals as we travelled to Mineiro. We started with a frantic first 6 minutes in which we found the net inside 3 minutes, before conceding a penalty (subsequently missed) and then doubling our lead just a minute later. Things looked even more comfortable for us as Mosquera made it 3-0 after 35 minutes, but Mineiro were not in the mood to lose in front of the own fans and mounted a shocking second half comeback, culminating with a 92nd minute winner that meant we missed out on progressing on away goals. A bitterly disappointing defeat given the lead that we had held, but in all honesty, the cup was never a key focus for us this season.



Following our embarrassing cup exit we returned to league action with a convincing 4-0 win over Cruzeiro before we travelled to Chile to face Colo-Colo in the first leg of our Copa Sudamerica 3rd round. It was a close match overall, but we managed to come away with a crucial away goal in a narrow 1-0 win.

Ahead of the second leg we face Fluminense in the league and recorded an amazing 3-0 victory, despite left back Ochoa seeing red for 2 yellow cards in the first 13 minutes. Goals from Mosquera (2) and Renato securing a well deserved victory for our 10 man team.



In the final game of this update we welcome Colo-Colo back to Brazil as we look to capitalise on our 1-0 first leg victory. We started on the attack and Barcia scored a rare goal to make it 2-0 on aggregate after 18 minutes. We continued our good start with a 3 minute salvo as Mosquera and Sandrinho both found the back of the net. Colo-Colo did score a late consolation goal, but we progressed 4-1 over the two legs to progress to the next round.



The quarter finals were drawn after the game and we will face fellow Brazilians Fluminense in a few weeks time. We can take some confidence into the tie after we just beat them 3-0 with 10 men for the majority of the game.



A decent run of form overall, particularly in the league with another 4 straight wins, just a little disappointing to go out of the cup when we were 3-0 up.



Table
Our good league form has seen us move 9 points clear at the top, although Flamengo have 2 games in hand so can close the gap to 3 points. We are almost at the half way point of the league season now, so to only have not won 2 games is pretty impressive.



Squad performance
The squad has continued to perform to ridiculous levels with the number of goals we are scoring. Mosquera (35) has moved ahead of Renato (32) in the race to be top goal scorer this season. Assists wise, Barcia now has 25 assists, something I don’t know if I have ever seen before on Football Manager. 18 of those are in the league which means he has 3 times more than any other player this season. The left back position has also been a massive provider of goals with Ochoa (17) and Kailky (13) racking up the assists.



Summary
A decent run of results again with another 100% win record in the league, which we are domination this season. We have also secured progression to the next stage of the Copa Sudamerica and based on the teams left in the competition I feel that we have a decent chance at bringing home the trophy.

*Thanks for reading an apologies that my uploads have been a bit erratic recently. For those who live in the UK you will know that recently sitting in front of a computer screen sweating and playing FM has probably been the last place anyone would want to be!*
That result against Mineiro is really disappointing giving your early lead. But you bounced back well and have picked up some good results, especially against Colo-Colo.
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Good work. Looking pretty at the top and aside from the pretty embarrassing collapse against Mineiro, all is looking rosy. The performances of both club and individuals have been terrific.
1
Corinthians – Club 4 – Season 2 – Update 6

Welcome back to my Pentagon Challenge after a couple of days away (apologies for that!). In the last update we progressed to the quarter finals of the Copa Sudamerica where we drew fellow Brazilians Fluminense, who we will face today, as well as continuing our title push.

Results
Off the back of beating Colo-Colo at the end of the last update, we faced local rivals Sao Paulo and fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat, given that they have had a fairly poor season so far. We did return to winning ways in the next game however as we faced EC Bahia in an exciting 3-2 victory, including an 87th minute goal from Cantu which turned out to be the winning goal.



We then had a weeks break (a rarity) before we faced Ponte Preta away from home. I was forced to rotate a little in this game as we faced Fluminense just days later, but still managed to come away with all 3 points. Our task was made harder when Jefferson was sent off after 25 minutes, despite Vito giving us the lead after 3 minutes.



The Fluminense game that followed was a cagey affair, ending in a narrow 1-0 win in our favour, but very much leaving the tie up in the air ahead of the second leg. In between the two legs we faced Avai in the league and heavily rotated our side in the hope of remaining fresh for the Copa Sudamerica and it cost us the game as we fell to a 1-0 defeat.

The second leg was as tight as the first leg and despite an 11th minute goal from Renato, I was still not confident of progressing as Fluminense continued to create chances whenever they came forward. But we did hang on an progress to the semi finals with a 2-0 aggregate victory, where we will face Junior FC from Columbia.



After our continental success we returned to league action and recorded back to back wins over division minnows Ceara and Sport Recife.



Table
With 4 wins and 2 defeats in the league our lead at the top of the table has dropped to 5 points. I still remain confident that we can claim the title this season, but we need to try and cut out the silly defeats that we seem to be falling to.



Squad performance
As before, our two strikers continue to lead the way with Mosquera (38) and Renato (33) leading the rest of the squad. Barcia also continues to lead the way with assist with 26 now, ahead of Ochoa on 18. In the midfield, Cantu continues to impress with 9 goals and 13 assists so far.



Summary
Overall a decent update, but a couple of defeat in the league has put our title hopes in the balance just after the halfway point in the year. We have progressed to the semi finals of the Copa Sudamerica, which I still expect us to win this season.

*Thanks for your continued support. Apologies that my updates have been a bit sporadic recently, I am currently in the progress of revising for a big exam, whilst also attempting to buy my first house so as you can imagine, writing these post unfortunately falls down the list a bit. I will keep trying to update you all as much as possible over the next few weeks*
Still in the ascendancy. As much as winning every game and coasting to the title would be ideal, it's not realistic and the odd defeat will slip in from time to time. It's just about minimising them.
1
Corinthians – Club 4 – Season 2 – Update 7

After the last update where we let our league lead slip a little, I am hoping that we can return to a strong winning streak and restore our gap at the top of the table. We will also be competing for our place in the Coda Sudamerica final, a trophy that I fully expect to have our names on at the end of the season.

Results
Our first 2 games started fairly well with a 3-0 win over Botafogo and a 1-1 draw against Palmeiras, but our main focus was our home game against title rivals Flamengo. A massive 6 pointer in the title race an one I was desperate to win given the magnitude of the game. We started well and eventually our pressure paid off as we found the net on 34 minutes, but the goal seemed to wake Flamengo up as they piled on the pressure for the rest of the first half and into the second. Just as it was looking the Flamengo might make the breakthrough a fortunate corner resulted in a Hollman header which found the back of the net and secured a massive 3 points in the context of our season.



The Flamengo game came just 3 days before the first leg of our tie against Junior FC, so I was a little worried about player fitness going into the game. It turned out that my fears were completely unfounded as we dominated the game in on of the most one sided semi finals in history, winning 8-0 away from home with Matheusao (2), Mosquera, Barcia, Kailky, Ramirez (2) and Contreras all getting in on the action.



In between the two legs we faced Internacional in the league and secured a comfortable 2-0 win to keep up the pressure on Flamengo behind. As expected, we rotated heavily for the second leg against Junior FC, but still won 4-0 on the night with a hat-trick from Renato as we sailed into the final 12-0 on aggregate, where we will face fellow Brazilian outfit Gremio.



Following the Junior game it appeared we had some kind of hangover as we collapsed to a 1-0 defeat to Goias in the league to let Flamengo back into the title race once more before we faced rivals Santos in a big match at home. We took the lead through Renato, but Santos responded quickly to make it 1-1 at half time. After the break we turned up a gear and struck 2 goals in 20 minutes, including young centre back Pessanha, to find ourselves 3-1 up. Santos did make for a nervy final few minutes with a 90th minute consolation goal, but we held on for a big 3 points.



A decent run in the league with 13 points taken from a possible 18 overall.



Table
Those points mean we have slipped further in the league, despite beating closest rivals Flamengo, meaning we only lead by a slip 1 point. We do have a game in hand, but I worry the pressure of securing the title might be telling on some of my players with just 11 games to go.



Squad performance
Once more, the players continue to perform at fantastic levels and Mosquera has now become the first player in this save to hit 40 goals in a single season. Renato is just 3 goals away on 37, and Matheusao has had a good season with 18 so far. The player that I haven’t spoken about too much this year is Kailky, who has been filling in at left back recently and he now has 19 assists this season – 1 more than first teamer Ochoa. Big signing Ramirez has been a bit of a let down so far this season, but has found a bit of form recently and now has 3 goals and 8 assists this year.



Summary
We have secured a place in a continental final, albeit not the one we are after, which is always encouraging, but our league form is becoming a little concerning and we now only have a 1 point lead over Flamengo with 11 games to go. We definitely need to ensure our heads don’t drop now otherwise I fear the title might slip through our grasp.

*Thanks for reading and let me know whether you think we will win the league and the Copa Sudamerica!*
It's getting extremely close at the top of the league. Fingers crossed you can push on when it matters the most and get the job done. Congratulations on reaching the final too. Absolutely coasting your way into it! Some great returns in the goals and assist department. Keeping hold of players like Mosquera will be key to success moving forward.
1
Corinthians – Club 4 – Season 2 – Update 8

Welcome back to the penultimate update of this season as we focus solely on the league in this update ahead of our Copa Sudamerica final in the next update. After a couple of slip ups in recent times our lead at the top of the league has closed to just a single point and we face second place Flamengo for the second time this year in a game that could decide the title this season.

Results
Our first game of this update was away to Bragantino and we could only come away with a draw, meaning with both teams now having 10 games remaining, we only led Flamengo but 2 points. Our next game was against Atletico Mineiro, who seem to be becoming our bogey team as we fell to a 0-1 defeat, meaning that after Flamengo took maximum points from their game, we moved off top spot for the first time this season.

Being in second meant there was a little less pressure going into our next game, an it showed as we dispatched of Athletico Paranaense 6-2, although they did get reduced to ten men after just 6 minutes. Goals from Ochoa, Vito and Bocao as well as a hat trick from Mosquera put us back on track ahead of our massive game away to Flamengo just a few days later.



Going into the Flamengo game, we knew that defeat would meaning a 4 point gap to top spot, and therefore we would need Flamengo to drop points in more than one game to catch up. We tried to take the game to the league leaders in their own back yard and took the lead through our first shot of the game after 4 minutes. From then on we tried to make it difficult for Flamengo to break down, but they turned on the style and dominated the remainder of the game, finding the net twice to spin the game on its head and take 3 huge points in the title race.



After defeat to Flamengo we knew that we almost had to win all of our remaining 7 games if we had any hope of winning the league, and did just that a few days later at home to Vasco da Gama with a comfortable 4-1 victory. We followed that up with an away game against our Copa Sudamerica final opponents Gremio and received an absolute battering as we sunk to a 3-1 defeat that all but blew our title hopes out of the water.



A pretty dreadful run of form for title challengers that has seen us fall from 1 point ahead to 5 points behind Flamengo in just 6 games.



Table
As mentioned, we now sit 5 points behind Flamengo with just 5 games to go. Based on Flamengo’s current form it is going to take a miracle to win the league from here, which is so disappointing given we lead by 9 points at one stage this year.



Squad performance
A little disappointing from some of the players recently, although Mosquera has scored another 4 goals to take his season total to 45 goals now. Ochoa has actually been on some decent from recently and has assisted another 3 goals to take his assists total past 20 this season.



Summary
A really disappointing update today unfortunately, but a little silver lining is that the board have offered me a new 3 year contract which shows they have faith in me to continue to take the club forward. With Copa Libertadores qualification secured for next season, could we be ticking off a 3rd continent in a seasons time?



*Thanks for reading and I hope you are excited for the season finale in my next update (hopefully at some point during the weekend)!*

You are reading "Jbc's Pentagon Challenge".

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