2018 World Cup: Coutinho & Neymar save Brazil after penalty drama vs Costa Rica

Philippe Coutinho bailed out Brazil as they sneaked to a vital World Cup Group E win against Costa Rica.

His prod home from six yards in the 90th minute made everything alright after a torrid afternoon in which Neymar was given, then denied, a penalty by referee Bjorn Kuipers.

The whistler initially gave a 78th minute spot kick.

But Neymar, whose tumble had caused it, was rumbled for play-acting by the VAR system.

His annoying afternoon went from sour to sweet, though.

He added a second in the seventh minute of added time as Brazil went top of the group.

Tite’s heavily fancied side struggled for large parts of a second successive pool match in the St. Petersburg sunshine.

The underdogs came out of the traps.

Costa Rica forced a chance after 13 minutes when Celso Borges fired a fierce shot wide after being played in by Cristian Gamboa.

It was already turning into a disappointing first half before a linesman’s flag added to Brazil’s woes.

Gabriel Jesus had the ball in the back of the net but was rightly adjudged offside from Willian’s ball in.

Neymar’s dud touch then allowed Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas to thwart him seconds later.

Willian forced the first corner of a scrappy affair on 38 minutes, before badly over-hitting the set piece.

A shot on target finally came two minutes later, when Marcelo tested the gloves of his club team-mate Navas.

Brazil came out with more purpose after the break.

First Jesus struck the crossbar with his header before Coutinho saw his effort deflected behind.

Neymar and Coutinho were then both denied by Navas as frustration grew for the men in their blue change strip.

Liverpool star Roberto Firmino was introduced to liven things up, just before Neymar conspired to miss the target from the edge of the box in the 72nd minute.

There was more VAR penalty drama for Neymar

Neymar felt the slightest hand in his chest from Giancarlo Gonzalez in the area, before throwing his arms out wide and falling over backwards.

The Dutch referee was initially fooled by the PSG star’s acting.

But he received a word in his ear from the VAR boffins.

A quick check on his personal telly followed before he rightly changed his mind.

The only strange thing was that Neymar escaped a booking for his efforts.

That soon changed when he was carded for punching the ball away in dissent as Brazil’s behaviour crumbled along with their world number one status.

But they came good when Barcelona forward Coutinho, then Neymar himself, popped up as the clock ticked down to spare their blushes on the big stage.

Watch: Neymar to the rescue for Brazil vs Costa Rica

WATCH: They left it late, but Brazil eventually scored with this Philippe Coutinho goal before Neymar doubled the lead to give them a 2-0 win against Costa Rica.

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— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 22, 2018