The Corinthianswho escorts the leader palm trees in the classification of the Brazilian Soccer Championship, got a 1-1 tie this Saturday in his visit to Avai that provisionally guaranteed him second place, and now he is waiting for the leader to slip up so that he does not increase his advantage.
With today’s tie at the Ressacada stadium thanks to a goal by Paraguayan Fabián Balbuena in the match for the twenty-first day of the League, Corinthians reached 39 points and provisionally deducted one unit from Palmeiras, who lead with 42 integers.
But the leader, champion of the last two editions of the Copa Libertadores, will host the humble Goiás on Sunday, thirteenth in the standings, and a victory at home can further isolate him at the top with 45 points and a difference of six integers over his immediate escort.
However, Palmeiras, led by Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira, can field an alternative team on Sunday to reserve their main players for Wednesday’s game in which they will host Atlético Mineiro for the Libertadores quarterfinals.
The green team from Sao Paulo got a draw in their visit to Mineiro in the first leg of the quarterfinals and needs a victory by any score in the second leg to advance to the semifinals of the Libertadores, their priority in the season due to the fact that looking for the third consecutive title.
Balbuena was the villain and the hero in the Corinthians game because he committed a penalty, converted by Bissoli, which allowed Avaí to open the scoring in the first half but got the equalizer in the final stage.
Vital victory of Flamengo with a gray Arturo Vidal
The day, on the other hand, was favorable for Flamengo, Brazilian champion in 2019 and 2020, one of the favorites for the title and who today achieved an important 0-2 victory in their visit to Sao Paulo that allowed them to provisionally rise to third place in the classification.
The Rio de Janeiro team, the most popular in Brazil, added 36 points, leaving them six behind Palmeiras and three behind Corinthians, but they can still lose third place because Fluminense (35) and Atlético Paranaense ( 34) will play their respective matches on Sunday for the twenty-first day.
Gabigol scored again for Flamengo
Despite the fact that he fielded a team full of substitutes because his priority is Tuesday’s game in which he will face Corinthians for a place in the Libertadores semifinals, Flamengo was the most offensive in the Morumbí stadium in Sao Paulo and He missed several opportunities.
The Rio de Janeiro team opened the scoring after six minutes, on the first dangerous play, thanks to a goal by Lázaro, and tried to widen the score but the substitute strikers, Everton Cebolinha and Marinho, failed to finish.
Flamengo only got its second goal at the end of the match, in the fourth minute of substitution, in a counterattack finished by the striker Gabriel Barbosa ‘Gabigol’.
Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal started for the first time as Flamengo’s starter but did not have a great display and was substituted in the second half.
Botafogo and Ceará tie in Rio de Janeiro
In a game this Saturday with headed goals from foreigners and which ended in a 1-1 draw in Rio de Janeiro, Botafogo opened the scoring at home thanks to a goal from Argentine Víctor Cuesta but allowed Colombian John Stiven Mendoza to equalize for Ceará. .
The result left both clubs parked in twelfth (Botafogo) and fourteenth (Ceará) places in the standings, with the same 25 points and 17 points behind the leader.
And in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, América Mineiro achieved a valuable 0-1 away victory against Juventude with a goal from Pedrinho 6 minutes into the game, which allowed them to rise to ninth position, with 27 points, and left the hosts sunk in last place, with only 16 points.
