Coutinho and Neymar strike late to help Brazil beat ousted Costa Rica

St Petersburg (dpa) - Philippe Coutinho and Neymar's stoppage time strikes saved Brazil's blushes in a 2-0 win over Costa Rica in World Cup Group E on Friday. Costa Rica now cannot reach the last 16 but put up a determined fight against the five-times champions. Brazil were frustrated by a tight defence and goalkeeper Keylor Navas, before referee Bjorn Kuipers infuriated the South Americans by awarding them a penalty and then wiping it out after watching the replay.
The Dutch official pointed to the spot when Neymar appeared to be held back by Giancarlo Gonzalez in the penalty area, but after using the Video Assistant Referee system to view the incident again, he changed his mind. As it looked like Brazil were going to follow up their 1-1 tie with Switzerland with another draw, Coutinho burst into the box to reach Roberto Firmino's header and drilled it past Navas in the 91st minute, before Neymar added a second in the 97th.
The win leaves Brazil top of the group on four points, before Serbia face Switzerland later Friday. Another round of group matches remain. "The second half was beautiful, it was perfect," said Brazil coach Tite. "We had precision at the finish, Navas played really well. In the first half we we didn't do so well, we were nervous, the passes were wrong." Brazil started slowly but gradually increased the pressure on their opponents.
Gabriel Jesus slammed home after 26 minutes when a Marcelo shot found its way to him in the area but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside. Tite swapped the disappointing Willian for Douglas Costa at half-time in a bid to inject some urgency into Brazil's game and it worked. Real Madrid goalkeeper Navas pulled off a spectacular save to deny Neymar from close range, as the game opened up. The 26-year-old Paris St. Germain winger then curled narrowly wide after bursting in to intercept a slack defensive pass, and Jesus hit the crossbar.
Neymar's frustration increased after Kuipers pointed to the spot before changing his mind after watching the replay of his clash with Gonzalez on the VAR system. "If I was the referee I wouldn't go back on my decision but I respect it because it's subject to interpretation," added Tite. "We don't need referees to win the game, I just want it to be fair. To me, it was a penalty."
Six minutes of stoppage time were added and Coutinho netted in the first of them, scoring his second goal of the tournament by arriving at the right place at the right time. Neymar, who burst into tears at the end of the game, netted his 56th goal for Brazil after a quick breakaway to seal the victory. Costa Rica, who caused a shock at the 2014 tournament by topping their group ahead of Uruguay, Italy and England, this time have been eliminated with a game to spare.
"It was terrible to lose in stoppage time," said coach Oscar Ramirez. "It hurts a lot, but the spirit of the team, the intention of the play, will stay with me. "I don't know how we could have set up another way, I think we did perfectly. We're playing against the number two side in the world, life was hard for us and they have players of great quality."