RIO DE JANEIRO, March 31 (Xinhua) -- In his last match before undergoing dental surgery, Vasco da Gama's Juninho Pernambucano scored twice in his team's 4-1 win over Macae in the sixth round of the Rio Cup on Saturday.
All of the game's goals were scored in the first half. Diego Souza gave Vasco da Gama the early lead in the 11th minute, slamming in a crossed ball from Alecsandro. Juninho scored the first of his two goals in the 14th minute, dominating the ball surrounded by defenders and quickly firing it past keeper Luis Henrique and into the Macae goal.
Macae's only goal of the match came in the 18th minute when Pipico leaped above the Vasco da Gama defense to head in a free kick.
Eder Luis scored Vasco da Gama's third goal in the 36th minute when Eder Luis drove past the defense and angled an excellent ball across the goal and into the net.
Juninho scored his second goal at the first minute of the first half stoppage time. At the top of the penalty box, the veteran midfielder faked a shot, dribbled past two defenders and fired the ball into the upper left corner of the Macae goal.
The win improves Vasco da Gama to first place of Group B of the Rio Cup, guaranteeing its passage into the playoffs of the Rio Cup. In the final round of the second half of the Rio de Janeiro state championship, Vasco da Gama will host rival Flamengo on April 7.
Juninho will miss Vasco da Gama's upcoming match against Alianza Lima-PER on April 3 in the 2012 Libertadores Cup due to an emergency surgery. The player suffered a broken implant that consequently got infected, causing pain and swelling in his mouth.