Cruzeiro won Atlético Mineiro 1-0 in the final of the Campeonato Mineiro, a two-month league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, that has been almost every time been won by either two (Cruzeiro ended a six-year winning streak of Atlético, which is also one of the top Brazilian teams who won the Série A in 2021).
The match, however, ended in a huge brawl between players ended with 23 straight red cards. It happened when the match was about to end, so the referee simply announced the end of the match in the 96th minute after most of the players were sent off...
Here's the full sequence, including Mineiro's goalkeeper Everson's brutal tackle and knee to the Cruzeiro player that ignited the battle. Everson took a brutal hit seconds later...
<social>https://x.com/epicredcards/status/2030943492894011621</social>
The pitched battle, with punches and kicks, started when Everson tackled and planted his knee over Cruzeiro midfielder Christian. "After being fouled, he knocked down his opponent, charged at him, and brutally struck his opponent, number 88, in the face with his knee", wrote the referee in his report, as reported by GOAL.
His teammates ran to defend him, pushing Everson, who hit his head with the goal's post, and was badly injured and bleeding.
<social>https://x.com/epicredcards/status/2030943998844559590</social>
The chaos was so big that even Guinness World Records stepped in to clarify this did not broke the record for more red cards in a football game: the record is held by an Argentine Primera D game in 2011...with 36 players sent off. It was, apparently, a shameful record in Brazilian football.
<social>https://x.com/GWR/status/2030950205407818002</social>