With several players again becoming available, Abel made changes to the starting-eleven. Luan and Kuscevic composed the defensive live, Danilo and Danilo Barbosa populated the midfield while Luiz Adriano was back as centre forward. Unfortunately, defensively, Palmeiras continue to oscillate.
Gustavo Scarpa opened the scorecard in the 7th minute with an astonishing free kick. The early goal did not bring tranquility and control to the game: Bahia equalized just five minutes later, after an unnecessary foul by Danilo, and the goal marked a turning point in the first half, with Bahia controlling the action and wasting good opportunities to take the lead.
Palmeiras returned better after the break and created opportunities, but were caught off-guard in the 74th minute as Bahia scored their second. Palmeiras went all in, with only fifteen minutes to avoid a disturbing home defeat. The equalizer came quickly, a free kick from Scarpa that brushed Raphael Veiga’s head on the way in. And in the second minute of injury time, again Scarpa found Libertadores hero Breno Lopes charging into the box to put final numbers to the game. Three VERY important point, taking some pressure off the squad and help to heal the tension between coach Abel and club directors.
Line-up
Jailson; Marcos Rocha (Gabriel Menino), Luan, Kuscevic and Victor Luis; Danilo (Patrick de Paula), Danilo Barbosa (Zé Rafael) and Scarpa; Rony (Deyverson), Breno Lopes and Luiz Adriano (Raphael Veiga).
Kuscevic, Danilo and Breno Lopes received yellow cards.
.
Green Light
Scarpa was yet again our most important player in the attack. He scored a insanely beautiful free kick, assisted Veiga’s goal and would had assisted Breno Lopes’ goal had the forward scored directly in his first shot and not on the rebound. The three points propelled Palmeiras to third place, with 13 points after seven rounds.
Yellow Light
The victory softened Abel Ferreira for his post-match interview, but our coach needs to slow down a bit. He was awarded another yellow card after complaining about an offside that was lately awarded. We know the referees in Brazil are terrible, but there is the VAR for offside situations and he is already known for his excessive reactions, earning him some unnecessary suspensions.
Red Light
The defensive problems continue. It’s understandable that without Gómez, Viña and Weverton we would be off guard, but relying on Victor Luis as the direct replacement for the left-back was a terrible idea from the start. Also, every attack Bahia attempted was confronted directly by our defenders, without assistance from the midfielders. Recipe for disaster.
Next Challenge
Reload and aim again. On Wednesday 30th, Palmeiras visit Internacional for the eight round. The Porto Alegre team has not had a great start to the tournament and currently sits in 13th place with 9 points.
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
– – – ooo – – –
by Augusto Anteghini Oazi
*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 