Palmeiras started 2026 by beating Portuguesa 1-0, at Estádio do Canindé, on Saturday night (10). The match was valid for the first round of the Campeonato Paulista.
Verdão’s winning goal came from Luighi’s feet, at the beginning of the second half, right after Portuguesa’s Igor Torres was sent off.
With the result, Palmeiras reached three points and currently occupies third place in the state, while Lusa is in 15th place. It is worth remembering that Paulistão’s regulations have changed –
The game
The first half was quite busy, with both teams creating good chances to open the scoring at Canindé. Despite this, the match went into the dressing room goalless.
During the first stage, Lusa took advantage of errors in Verdão’s ball exit on the left side. Carlos Miguel and Jefté found it difficult to play and Portuguesa came close to opening the scoring, but stopped due to the lack of precision from their attackers.
On the other side of the field, Palmeiras saw Luighi, Sosa and Allan have good chances. The main opportunity was with Maurício, already in the final stretch of the opening period, who wasted a good opportunity after a good play by Jefté.
At the beginning of the second half, after five minutes, Igor Torres fouled Larson and received a yellow card. After the VAR review, the referee changed the color and sent off the Portuguesa attacker.
With one more, it didn’t take long for Palmeiras to open the scoring. After a good collective play with Larson, Andreas and Maurício, the number 18 received a free kick in the area and only allowed Luighi to open the scoring at Canindé.
After the first goal, Verdão continued the attack and saw Luighi and Andreas finish without danger. Lusa almost equalized with Renê who, alone, headed out of Carlos Miguel’s goal.
With the advantage on the scoreboard and also numerically, Abel Ferreira’s team only needed to control the game in the following minutes to guarantee their first victory of 2026.
Upcoming games
The two teams return to the field in the middle of the week, in games from the second round of the Campeonato Paulista.
Portuguesa enters the field on Tuesday (13). At 9:30 pm (Brasília time), Lusa faces Capivariano, at Arena Capivari.
Verdão has an extra day of rest and will only play on Wednesday (14). Palmeiras takes on Santos, at Allianz Parque, at 7:30 pm (Brasília time).
