Richarlison believes he was lucky to have not BROKEN his ankle after a nasty challenge by Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani.

However, the Everton forward admitted he does not blame the Uruguay international, who saw red for the tackle.

Richarlison was on the scoresheet for Brazil as they recorded a 2-0 victory in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.

The home side began to chase the game as the Selecao passed the pall around with consummate ease, with Cavani shown a straight red after a clumsy challenge on the 23-year-old.

After referee Roberto Tobar initially produced a yellow card, he consulted the pitch-side VAR monitor and upgraded the striker to a red card and gave him his marching orders.

Richarlison played down the significance of the challenge, but conceded he could have been seriously injured.

“I think it was a ball dispute, he went over the top,” said the Everton forward.

“If my foot was stuck it might have even broken my ankle, but I think it wasn’t bad.

“He tried to steal the ball and ended up missing.”

Brazil have won all three of their World Cup qualifying games, leaving them in a fantastic position to reach Qatar in just over one year’s time.

Richarlison added: “We are not getting arrogant because we’re unbeaten.

“We know that every game is difficult and every game different but we are on the right path. Not because we’ve won but because sometimes we’ve been playing well.

“We are on the right path, we have total faith in the coaches and they have faith in us and so we’ll keep looking to achieve our objective, which is to qualify for the World Cup finals.”