Palmeiras came out victorious from the derby, beating Corinthians with the one brace from Cleiton Xavier. By decision of the local authorities, only home team supporters were allowed tickets and the attendance record was broken as almost 40.000 palmeirenses filled up the seats.
You remember the father, in Brasilia, who in tears carried his disabled son out of a pepper spray-filled Mané Garrincha stadium? In a joint effort by supporters and Palmeiras, he was quickly identified and Palmeiras invited his whole family to São Paulo to attend a training session, meet the players and later attend the derby at the Allianz Parque. No way of mistaking the joy on young Kaylon’s face. I strongly recommend the video below. Congratulations to everyone involved!
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What concerns the judicial aftermath of the Brasilia incident, it turned into a joke, as expected. Palmeiras have no relationship whatsoever with the organised supporter groups. It was Flamengo’s home game, Flamengo were responsible for security at the stadium. The Supreme Tribunal of Sports, the STJD, based in Rio de Janeiro, fined Flamengo R$ 50.000 and further penalised the club with one home game at least 100 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro (where all Flamengo’s home games currently are played anyway, due to the Maracanã being reserved for the Olympic Games). Palmeiras were fined R$ 80.000 and forced to play a home game before empty stands: considering the habitual massive turnout at the Allianz Parque, this equals a fine of R$ 1 million or more. I will not repeat my views on the STJD.
In the middle of the week, Palmeiras played Coritiba, away. Palmeiras dominated from start to finish and were comfortably leading 1-2 when some of “our” organised supporters decided to light flares as the game entered injury time. The referee stopped the game, according to standard procedure in Brazil, and the break lasted for a few minutes, which was enough for Coritiba to regain their posture for a last charge. Our players were not alert and Palmeiras suffered the equaliser. Extremely frustrating. Those two points could prove crucial. And, of course, Palmeiras are likely to face the STJD again.
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Ahead of yesterday’s home game against Santa Cruz, large banners were printed with appeals to supporters to behave. “Please don’t light flares, please don’t fight or destroy the stadium, please help Palmeiras identify wrongdoers”. Palmeiras put on another convincing performance, wearing the new white second uniform and beating Santa Cruz 3-1, this time without having to deal with friendly fire. Let us keep it this way: it is hard enough with just the competition and the disastrous refereeing.
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After nine rounds, Palmeiras stand at 19 points, awaiting the result from Internacional’s away game (Figueirense) later today to learn which of the two enter next week as leader. On Tuesday, América Mineiro await at the Allianz Parque, then Cruzeiro away on the Saturday: both these opponents are currently in the bottom four, so Palmeiras have a realistic chance of walking away with the six points.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 