Corinthians held a heroic draw against Palmeiras this Thursday (6), at Allianz Parque, in duel for the Paulista Championship. Playing with one less for most of the final stage, after the expulsion of Yuri Alberto, the visiting team had a penalty defended by Hugo Souza to return home with a point after the 1-1 result.
The two goals of the classic came out in the first half. Maurício opened the scoring and Yuri Alberto, who had a controversial expulsion after accumulating two yellow cards, was the one who decreed the draw. In the final stage, Palmeiras did everything to reach the second goal and took off a penalty after 45 minutes, when Estêvão suffered a foul. The shirt 41 itself charged and saw the ball stop in the hands of the Corinthian goalkeeper.
The heavy rain that fell in the city of Sao Paulo early Thursday night severely punished the lawn of the Palmeiras Arena. The duel had to be postponed until the storm decreases. Meanwhile, club officials were called to make repairs in the field and help drainage the water.
At some points, it was possible to notice an elevation in the synthetic grass carpet caused by the accumulation of water. When the field was drier, it was also necessary to spread the cork again, a kind of ball made of an organic material that serves as the thermal insulator and makes the lawn cushioning.
Fabinho Soldado, Corinthians’ soccer executive, accompanied the work on the edge of the countryside and said that the postponement was a joint decision made by the arbitration, the Paulista Federation and the clubs.
“[A chuva] It is the imponderable. You have to have sensitivity to wait for the best time for the match. It’s bad for both teams. The teams have been warmed and will now have to return to the field for a new activation, “the director told TNT Sports.
Near the time of departure, the São Paulo Civil Defense fired alerts for flooding in the western regions, where is Allianz, North Zone and Centro.
The delay of matches because of the rain has been a recurring situation in the Paulista Championship. In addition to the derby, the match between São Bernardo and Novorizontino, also this Wednesday, was paralyzed before the end of the first half due to the storm.
The delay of derby is at least the fifth that occurred in this edition of the Paulista Championship because of the rains. In past rounds, the matches between São Paulo x Corinthians, Santos x Sao Paulo, Ponte Preta x Corinthians and Northwest x Botafogo were also postponed, and the duel in Bauru was only held the next day.
At Allianz Parque, referee Raphael Claus authorized the start of the match at 8:32 pm. As soon as the ball rolled, the home owners quickly adapted to the field conditions. After eight minutes, Mauricio opened the scoring after receiving a long piquerez pass.
The advantage in the first few minutes gave more confidence for the home team to continue pressing. Until 24 minutes, when Yuri Alberto received and Memphis Depay inside the area and finished strong, demanding a good defense of Weverton, practically, only Palmeiras had offensive volume.
The move, however, was enough to give the visitors a mood. Just before the break, Yuri Alberto received a new pass from the Dutch and, this time, shirt 9 managed to draw.
More balanced, the second half started with both teams looking for the attack, but at 16 minutes the course of the classic would change when the author of the Corinthians goal was expelled for allegedly simulating a foul. He sought a dribble against ships, unbalanced and fell on the lawn, still wet.
The referee understood that the player tried to simulate a foul and soon drew the yellow card and then the red. Yuri came out of the field almost without reaction to Raphael Claus’s decision, who had shown the first card to the striker in the early stage, when he celebrated his goal with a kick on the corner flag.
With one less player, Corinthians started playing only in the defense field. Palmeiras, in turn, posted on the offensive field and insisted until the last minutes, when Estêvão took off a penalty after individual play.
Shirt 41 itself went to the charge, but Hugo Souza grew up in front of the rival and defended his sixth penalty since arrived at Corinthians last year, holding the draw.
