After five games without a win, they ended the negative series by defeating Atlético Mineiro this Wednesday, 3rd. In Belo Horizonte, they were efficient and lethal by taking advantage of two flaws in the Atletico defense. Flaco López, Allan defined the triumph with goals in the first half.
The Palmeiras fans cheered in a restrained way because the victory was worth little. It was insufficient to keep the team in the fight for the title, which they ended up with. The red-and-black team defeated Ceará at Maracanã and confirmed the victory one round in advance.
They have 78 points against 73 for the São Paulo team with just three more points up for grabs. Runner-up in Paulistão, Brasileirão and Libertadores, Palmeiras will end the year in a melancholy way. This is the first season without cups since Abel Ferreira has been in charge. The team closes the tournament against Ceará in Fortaleza.
Atlético Mineiro has 45 points and is closer to relegation than those going to the Libertadores. He had a season below mediocrity and irritated his fans. The team from Minas Gerais ends the season against Vasco, in Rio. All games in the final round will be at 4pm on Sunday.
The Palmeiras reaction was late. The points lost in the previous five rounds were missed – the defeats to Mirassol, Santos and Grêmio, and the draws with Vitória and Fluminense at home.
Concentrated, Palmeiras put pressure on the ball from Atlético’s defenders, who had a terrible night. The visitors were as effective as they had ever been and took advantage of their rival’s mistakes.
It was mistakes by the Atletico defense that led to goals from Flaco, at eight, and Allan, at 19. Junior Alonso and Guilherme Arana failed. Vitor Roque also went to the net, but was offside.
The miners started to press after Palmeiras lost Piquerez, sent off, for a cart that hit the ball, but referee Rafael Rodrigo Klein found it violent after reviewing the move on the VAR monitor.
With ten on the field, Palmeiras retreated and were squeezed by Atlético, who transformed Carlos Miguel into the best on the field. The goalkeeper saved Palmeiras with at least three important saves.
When the 2-meter tall giant didn’t save the São Paulo team, Bernard, Gustavo Scarpa and Rony stopped at the post. Rony even scored, but it was with his arm. The goal was disallowed because the VAR noticed the irregularity.
Palmeiras mounted a single counterattack in the final stage and it was from there that they won. Luighi, who had taken Vitor Roque’s place, received it from Jefté and sealed the result in Belo Horizonte.
ATLÉTICO-MG 0 X 3 PALMEIRAS
ATLÉTICO-MG: Everson; Ruan Tressoldi, Vitor Hugo and Junior Alonso (Bernard); Saraiva (Hulk), Alan Franco, Igor Gomes, Gustavo Scarpa (Gabriel Menino) and Guilherme Arana; Ron and Dudu. Coach: Jorge Sampaoli.
PALMEIRAS: Carlos Miguel; Khellven, Gustavo Gómez, Murilo and Piquerez; Emi Martínez, Andreas Pereira and Raphael Veiga (Ramón Sosa); Allan (Bruno Fuchs), Flaco López (Jefté) and Vitor Roque (Luighi). Coach: Abel Ferreira.
GOALS: Flaco López, at 8, and Allan, at 19 in the first half. Luighi, at 35 of the second half.
REFEREE: Rafael Rodrigo Klein (RS).
YELLOW CARDS: Raphael Veiga, Abel Ferreira, Carlos Miguel.
RED CARD: Piquerez.
AUDIENCE: 13,878.
INCOME: R$535,000.17.
LOCATION: Arena MRV, in Belo Horizonte.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
