Palmeiras allowed two precious points slip away against Atlético Mineiro and Flamengo’s victory against Chapecoense expanded the gap to the leaders to five points. Palmeiras once more allowed the opponent the opener and went to halftime behind on the scorecard: this has happened in three out of six games under Mano Menezes and is making life much harder. Yesterday, the men in green only went into overdrive in the last 20 minutes: too little too late.
Line-up
Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Gustavo Gómez, Vitor Hugo and Diogo Barbosa; Felipe Melo (Raphael Veiga), Bruno Henrique, Lucas Lima (Deyverson); Willian, Dudu and Borja (Scarpa).
Gustavo Gómez, Dudu and Deyverson received yellow cards.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhkAaVNMjf4]
Green light
Palmeiras’ goal was beautiful and all the credits go to Dudu. Despite making many mistakes, the Little Giant never gives up, never shies away. Through his insistence, Palmeiras found the equaliser.
Yellow light
For the second consecutive game, Palmeiras’ first half was very bad. Despite playing away, Atlético had the best opportunities, Weverton saving three of them before allowing their opener in the last minute of the first half, our defensive line displaying a complete lack of attention.
Red light
Theoretically, Mano Menezes has four centre-forwards at his disposal. In practice, he has only one, as Borja and Deyverson yesterday showed, once more, they have very little to offer compared to Luiz Adriano. Henrique Dourado has not yet debuted, but let’s be honest, expectations are not high.
VAR
Another round with refereeing and VAR stealing the show; Flamengo’s goal was allowed, albeit the image left plenty of room for doubt whether the carioca player was indeed onside. Will we ever reach NFL standards, where final decisions are practically always rock solid?
Next challenge
This is one of the big clashes of the tournament, third-placed Santos receiving the runners-up at Vila Belmiro on Wednesday night. A draw would normally be considered a good result, but as Palmeiras wasted points at home against Atlético, a victory against “the fish” is almost mandatory unless we want to see Flamengo distance themselves even further.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
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by Augusto Anteghini Oazi
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 