Abel maintained most of the line-up from the game against Internacional, although both opponents have different playing styles and technical capacity. The only change he made was due to the suspension of Kuscevic, substituted by Felipe Melo.
Being vastly superior even with many players missing, Palmeiras took control of the first half and patiently created chances until opening the scorecard. Felipe Melo made a beautiful long pass to Danilo on the right wing, who dribbled past the left-back and found Scarpa free inside the box to push the ball to the back of the net.
Behind on the scorecard and needing the three points to move away from the relegation zone, Sport came to the second half trying to attack more. They created some opportunities that almost resulted in the equalizer, while Palmeiras missed good opportunities to score the second and guarantee the victory.
In the end, Scarpa sole goal decided the match and Palmeiras collected three precious points to remain up there with the leaders. This was our fifth consecutive away victory against Sport in the Brasileirão, the fourth in a row keeping a clean sheet. With the victories of Red Bull Bragantino and Athletico Paranaense, Palmeiras remain in third position with 19 points.
Line-up
Jailson; Marcos Rocha, Luan, Felipe Melo and Renan; Danilo, Zé Rafael (Gabriel Menino) and Raphael Veiga (Rony); Scarpa (Danilo Barbosa), Breno Lopes (Willian) and Deyverson (Victor Luis).
Marcos Rocha received a yellow card and is suspended for the next game.
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Green Light
Gustavo Scarpa is on fire! Abel has completely revived the once negotiable player and Scarpa has already been involved in seven goals in the Brasileirão 2021 (two goals and five assists); one more than he managed in the whole of last season in the competition (one goal and five assists).
Yellow Light
Palmeiras missed opportunities that could have secured victory earlier. Danilo and Willian had two chances to increase Palmeiras’ lead, but allowed defenders to block their shots.
Red Light
Marcos Rocha almost received a red card already in the first half trying to stop a counter-attack after a corner. Palmeiras can’t offer up opportunities like these to the thirsty VAR we have in Brazil.
Next Challenge
Play, travel, practice, repeat. The two games per week rhythm continues and Palmeiras receive bottom-dwellers Grêmio on Wednesday 7th at the Allianz Parque. Grêmio are yet to win a game in the Brasileirão (2E, 5D) and their coach Tiago Nunes was sacked after tonight’s home defeat. Some say Felipão will be their next coach, but they’ll probably come to São Paulo still with a caretaker manager and amidst a huge crisis. Let’s push them even further down, yes?
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 