Palmeiras was defeated by Mirassol 2-1 on Sunday night (9) and saw Flamengo, second in the Brazilian Championship, equal in total points and put pressure on the Alviverde club in the title fight — both have 68 points, but the São Paulo team remains leader due to having one more victory (21 to 20).
Mirassol scored in the first minute of the match, with a goal from Gabriel. Palmeiras managed to equalize in the 29th minute of the first half, with a bicycle kick from Vitor Roque. In the 46th minute, however, João Victor extended the goal for Mirassol.
Undefeated at home, the club from the interior of São Paulo remains in the G4, in fourth place, with 59 points, six more than Bahia (5th), approaching a direct place in the Copa Libertadores.
In an earlier match at Maracanã, Flamengo beat Santos 3-2 and got closer to the leader in the fight for the title.
The Rio club dominated the match — Léo Pereira opened the scoring at the end of the first half, and Carrascal and Bruno Henrique expanded in the second half —, but gave in to pressure from Santos in the final minutes of the game, who scored with Gabriel Bontempo and Lautaro Díaz.
Neymar, substituted at the end of the second half, shortly before Santos’ goals, was booed by the Flamengo fans and complained about Sávio Pereira Sampaio’s refereeing – the referee penalized him with a yellow card. “The referee is very bad. In addition to being bad, he is arrogant,” he said.
Santos, who remains with 33 points and in 17th place, missed the chance to leave the relegation zone.
Earlier, on Sunday afternoon, Corinthians lost to Ceará 1-0 at the Neo Química Arena – the second consecutive defeat for the club, which remains in 13th place, with 42 points.
Cruzeiro and Fluminense drew 0-0 at Mineirão, the same result as the match between Vitória and Botafogo, in Salvador. Cruzeiro remains in third place in the championship, with 64 points.
The leader and vice-leader of the championship return to the field on Saturday (15), in delayed games. Palmeiras faces Santos at 9pm, and Flamengo plays against Sport at 6:30pm.
