Abel made some changes to the starting-eleven trying to end the terrible sequence of three consecutive defeats in the Brasileirão, two of these at home. Piquerez and Veron were selected to start the match against Athletico Paranaense.
After a couple of opportunities conceded to Athletico, Palmeiras took control of the game. Santos avoided Palmeiras’ opener until the 22nd minute, when Raphael Veiga took a corner on Luan’s head, who slot it home. Palmeiras had the chances to increase the advantage in the first half, but was unable to convert any of those, going to half-time only with a single goal margin.
The first 20 minutes of the second half went in the same fashion, with Athletico Paranaense doing very little to threaten Weverton’s goal. With the entrances of Breno Lopes, Rony and Deyverson, Abel prepared the team to counter-attack. There were a couple of chances missed by the trio before Athetico’s equalizer three minutes after their substitutions.
With the momentum favoring Athletico, Palmeiras risked another defeat at home. However, five minutes after the equalizer, the trio that had came on minutes earlier finally worked out a play without mistakes. Breno Lopes crossed to Deyverson, who crossed again to Rony, controlling the ball with his left foot and firing in the bottom right corner of the keeper to put final numbers to the game.
Line-up
Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Luan, Gustavo Gómez and Piquerez; Danilo, Zé Rafael (Patrick de Paula) and Raphael Veiga (Rony); Dudu (Felipe Melo), Gabriel Veron (Breno Lopes) and Willian (Deyverson).
Zé Rafael, Deyverson and Felipe Melo received yellow cards.
Green Light
The performance was not one of the best we’ve seen under Abel, but it was enough to secure a very important victory at home. With Flamengo again back on track under Renato Gaúcho and Atlético Mineiro still leading, Palmeiras need to keep the gap to the leaders as short as possible.
Yellow Light
Breno Lopes, Rony and Deyverson were responsible for the second goal, but they make too many mistakes before getting it right. Before Athletico Paranaense’s equalizer, they blew at least two great counter-attacks, and in the dying minutes, Rony missed a pass that initiated a counter-attack for the opponent that almost cost us the victory.
Red Light
Palmeiras were unable to keep a clean sheet for the fourth consecutive game. The defense, solid in the title winning campaigns of last season, is allowing the opponent way too much space, and despite being the best keeper in the Brasileirão, Weverton can’t save 100% of the shots.
Next Challenge
Palmeiras will have two weeks without games, since CBF decided to postpone the games in the Brasileirão of the teams that had players called up to the National Team. With the change, Palmeiras will return to the pitch on September 12th, for the first round of the second half of the tournament, playing against Flamengo, who are alternating astonishing results with uninspiring exhibitions under Renato Gaúcho.
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 