Palmeiras maintained their lead in the Brasileirão by defeating Fluminense 2-1, on a night featuring Vitor Roque and Allan, who scored the goals in the triumph at Arena Barueri. Wednesday’s victory (25) was valued due to the good performance of the Rio team, which was close to snatching a draw in a match of excellent technical level.
There are 10 points for Palmeiras, who lead the Brasileirão because they have a greater goal difference than São Paulo, with the same score. The team coached by Abel Ferreira is one of the few unbeaten teams in the tournament. Fluminense stopped at seven points and fell to fifth place.
The duel in the fourth round of the Brasileirão marked Arias’ reunion with Fluminense, a team in which he built a history of idolatry, but which he rejected upon returning to Brazil. He accepted the biggest offer, from Palmeiras, and became the most expensive foreign player in Brazil.
The Colombian entered the second half and was always booed by the few visitors in Barueri every time he touched the ball. The hosts were already winning the match and the attacking midfielder was important in pacing the game. He set up two counterattacks that didn’t result in goals because Vitor Roque and Sosa were wasted.
It took Palmeiras 12 minutes to score twice and bring the game close to being resolved. The way for the advantage to be built was to put pressure on the ball from Fluminense, who made a lot of mistakes and gave the hosts gaps.
The first failure of the Tricolor defense generated the penalty that Fábio committed on Vitor Roque when it came off at the attacker’s feet. Tigrinho himself hit and converted at eight. Four minutes later, Allan made a beautiful individual play, lined up markers and scored the second, proving that he was worth more than the 35 million euros that Napoli offered and Palmeiras refused.
Flu gave space, but didn’t play badly. And he continued to play well even after conceding two goals. All attacks passed through the feet of the talented Argentine attacking midfielder Lucho Acosta. It was his goal that put the Rio team back into the match after a series of mistakes by the home team, especially Marlon Freitas, who left Acosta free to find the net.
The Argentine demanded a great save from Carlos Miguel and launched other attacks that did not end in a goal thanks to the Palmeiras goalkeeper. Protagonist in Barueri, Acosta injured his thigh and left at half-time, which cooled the pressure from the locals.
Soteldo came off the bench, called up by Zubeldía, and did not replace the starter at the time. Savarino became more active. In his best move, the Venezuelan hit the crossbar.
The São Paulo team, cornered, regained control of the actions as soon as Abel decided to make a move. The most expensive foreign player in Brazilian football, bought for R$151 million, Jhon Arias was called up to face the team he defended for almost five years and in which he built idolatry. The Colombian started well and participated in the counterattacks that ended in shots on the post — from Vitor Roque, first, and Sosa, next.
The visitors dominated some of the main actions, finished more often and intensified the pressure at the end. However, they didn’t beat Carlos Miguel again.
TECHNICAL SHEET
PALMEIRAS 2 X 1 FLUMINENSE
PALM TREES – Carlos Miguel; Khellven (Giay), Gustavo Gómez, Murilo and Piquerez; Marlon Freitas, Andreas Pereira (Lucas Evangelista) and Maurício; Allan (Felipe Anderson), Vitor Roque (Sosa) and Flaco López (Arias). Coach: Abel Ferreira.
FLUMINENSE – Fabio; Guga, Freytes, Ignacio and Guilherme Arana; Bernal (Otávio), Martinelli (Hercules) and Lucho Acosta (Soteldo); Savarino, Serna (John Kennedy) and Ganso (Santi Moreno). Coach: Luis Zubeldía.
GOALS – Vitor Roque, at 8, Allan, at 12, and Lucho Acosta, at 39 in the first half.
REFEREE – Felipe Fernandes de Lima (MG).
YELLOW CARDS – Fábio, Freytes, Martinelli, Khellven, Arias, Ignacio and Marlon Freitas.
RED CARD – Abel Ferreira.
INCOME – R$ 353.328,50.
PUBLIC – 10,329 fans.
LOCAL – Arena Barueri (SP).
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
