Abel kept the same starting eleven of the game against Universidad Católica for the clash against Fluminense. The Portuguese coach found in Danilo and Zé Rafael the soul of this team, that allows very little space to their opponents.
The game against Fluminense wasn’t very inspired on the offensive side, with Palmeiras failing to register a single shot on target in the first half. Fluminense had the best opportunity in the first 45 minutes, and Zé Rafael again saved Palmeiras over the goalline.
In the second half, Palmeiras were still struggling to create good opportunities, but improved on the defensive end to avoid any threats to Weverton. With the luck that is normally reserved for champions, Palmeiras was favored with an own goal in the 54th minute and that was the only time the ball died in the back of the net.
Line-up
Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Felipe Melo, Gustavo Gómez and Renan; Danilo, Zé Rafael (Victor Luís) and Raphael Veiga (Patrick de Paula); Scarpa (Dudu), Wesley (Breno Lopes) and Deyverson (Willian).
Felipe Melo received a yellow card.
Green Light
Another clean sheet secured the seventh consecutive victory for Palmeiras in the Brasileirão – the longest winning streak by Palmeiras in the tournament under the current format, alongside another seven-victories sequence achieved in 2019.
Yellow Light
Palmeiras’ last two games in the Brasileirão didn’t feature much scoring opportunities. Attacking efficiency must increase for matches against tougher opponents.
Red Light
Although Palmeiras won, Flamengo and Atlético Mineiro also registered two important victories and maintained their pursuit of Palmeiras with the same gap as before.
Next Challenge
Although because of a bad reason (elimination in the Brazil Cup), Palmeiras will finally have a free week for training and rest for the first time since the beginning of the Brasileirão. Our next game is against São Paulo, on Saturday, July 31st. São Paulo are in a very irregular form, alternating an epic win in the Libertadores Cup with a humiliating 5-1 defeat against Flamengo in the Brasileirão.
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 