As if one stupid player (Lucas Lima) wasn’t enough, Patrick de Paula repeat his teammate’s effort to ignore sanitary measures and was removed from the squad until further notice, leaving coach Abel Ferreira with an even shorter blanket. Already having to improvise Felipe Melo as a defender, Danilo Barbosa returned to the starting-eleven as a central midfielder.
The first half was crowded with opportunities, but unfortunately only Red Bull Bragantino converted them into goals. Already in the 10th minute, keeper Vinícius Silvestre offered the rebound to Ytalo to score the opener. Palmeiras’ chances were stopped by the good – and expensive – goalkeeper Cleiton. In the very last minute of the first half, Red Bull Bragantino increased their lead, again through Ytalo, after Palmeiras failed to execute an offside trap.
The second half was not much different from the first: Palmeiras pressuring somewhat and Red Bull Bragantino ready to pull the trigger in fast counter attacks. Palmeiras managed to reduce RBB’s lead in the 66th minute with Breno Lopes, but Cleiton continued having an inspired night between the posts, avoiding the equalizer. In the 88th minute, with Palmeiras in full-attack mode, Bragantino seized a counter-attack to put final numbers to the game, Ytalo with the hat trick.
Line-up
Vinícius; Mayke, Marcos Rocha (Breno Lopes), Felipe Melo, Renan and Victor Luís (Rony); Danilo Barbosa (Gabriel Menino), Scarpa and Raphael Veiga; Willian (Wesley) and Deyverson (Luiz Adriano).
Marcos Rocha, Gustavo Scarpa and Mayke received yellow cards.
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Green Light
It wasn’t a terrible night for Palmeiras offensively: the team created good opportunities and made Cleiton the second most important player in the match, behind Ytalo. Maybe our players could have concluded sharper, but at least this time the shots were on target.
Yellow Light
The squad is short and it shows. There are no defenders to compose the defensive line (Marcos Rocha and Felipe Melo were improvised), there are no alternatives to the attack and Abel had to rely on an arguably terrible option (Deyverson), our substitute for left-back is the very limited Victor Luís, and the list goes on.
Red Light
Abel Ferreira’s post-match interviews have become increasingly explosive after defeats. Yesterday, he complained about the lack of reinforcements, requested since March, and that he know understands he will not have them. Dudu is returning, but only in August. “August is Augusto, too late”, Abel said with a shake of the head. After the Brazil Cup final against Grêmio, Abel said this season would be more difficult and that it is important to stick together when things go well but also when things go badly. Let’s see what management’s response will be to these public displays of frustration from our coach.
Next Challenge
Marching orders continue. Upcoming Sunday, Palmeiras receive Bahia at the Allianz Parque for the 7th round of the Brasileirão. Both defeats until now weren’t big accidents, but losing points at home against a team that will probably fight in the bottom half of the table would be terrible. Even with the unavailable players, Palmeiras can’t think of anything but victory to regain momentum and keep close to the leaders.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
– – – ooo – – –
by Augusto Anteghini Oazi & Kristian Bengtson
*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 