Yet another questionable display from Palmeiras, although things brightened up slightly in the second half, with Luxemburgo promoting Zé Rafael, Luiz Adriano and in particular Wesley; the youngster surely deserves a chance as a starter, benching Rony, yes?
In the 77th minute, Scarpa crossed and Zé Rafael, well-positioned, effortlessly slotted home. Palmeiras created several more chances and could have nailed the coffin shut, but instead allowed Bahia to increase the pressure in the dying minutes, reaching the equalizer after a mistimed flight by Weverton, leaving the goal empty. One of those draws that feels like utter, utter defeat.
Line-up
Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Luan, Gustavo Gómez and Diogo Barbosa; Bruno Henrique (Ramires), Patrick de Paula and Gabriel Menino (Gustavo Scarpa); Lucas Lima (Zé Rafael), Rony (Wesley) and Willian (Luiz Adriano).
Yellow cards for Luan and Wesley.
Green light
Bruno Henrique and Lucas Lima continue to show progression. Mayke had an excellent evening. And Wesley created more in the 25 minutes he was on than Rony in his last three games. Gómez and Luan are tight as clue in centre-lock.
Yellow light
History repeating. Solid defense, powerless attack. With a twist: Palmeiras don’t seem to have the confidence to slow cook the game when ahead, cooling things down in the last minutes. Pressure builds and occasionally, things like yesterday happens.
Red light
Performance needs to improve, and fast: Palmeiras have so far mostly played underdogs, but the classicos are coming up, with stronger and less forgiving opponents.
Next challenge
Wednesday, at the Allianz Parque, the winner mentality needs to step up to the plate, as Palmeiras welcome head-of-the-tables Internacional, from Porto Alegre. There are currently 6 points between the two teams, Palmeiras having played one game less. Reducing the difference to three points would be a very important signal – internally and externally – that Palmeiras are in it to win.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
*Here at Anything Palmeiras, we love football. We love Palmeiras. We are always keen to see Palmeiras play, and keen to write about it for you. But we’re against the return of football in a country that still hasn’t controlled the coronavirus pandemic. We express our deepest sympathy to the families whose loved ones have been taken by the disease.
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 