Botafogo beat this Sunday 2-0 at America in a match of the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship; confirmed himself as the leader of the League and increased the advantage that separates him from the palmeirasreigning champion, favorite for the title and his immediate follower in the standings.
The team led by the Portuguese coach Luis Castro completed seven victories in eight games, reached 21 points and benefited from the 1-1 draw that Palmeiras gave up on their visit to Atlético Mineiro.
Palmeiras, also led by the Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira, remained undefeated and in second place in the standings, with 16 points, while Mineiro, led by the Argentine coach Eduardo Coudet, rose to fourth place, with 14 points.
In a match played at their stadium, the Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, Botafogo opened the scoring two minutes into the game after Júnior Santos finished off a header that he received inside the area from Di Placido.
Without Tiquinho Soares, their main offensive weapon, current goalscorer in the Championship with six goals and who had to serve a suspension date due to accumulation of yellow cards, the Rio de Janeiro team had difficulties creating and ended up colliding with an America that played to defend itself .
Botafogo increased the pressure in the second half and scored their second goal on 59 minutes, when Luis Henrique, after receiving a back-heeled pass from Eduardo, eluded goalkeeper Mateus Pasinato and only had to push the ball into an empty net.
Palmeiras got a valuable 1-1 draw on their visit to Atlético Mineiro, leaving them in second place but further from the leader. Rony came to open the scoring for Palmeiras at the beginning of the game with a great goal from the Chilean but the score was annulled after consulting the VAR for an offside.
Weberton, Palmeiras goalkeeper and this Sunday called up again for the Brazilian team, saved the team from conceding several goals. Argentine Cristian Pavón opened the scoring for Mineiro late in the first half by taking advantage of a mistake by Paraguayan defender Gustavo Gómez, but Dudú equalized for Palmeiras in the 51st minute when he headed in an assist from Artur.
Corinthians win and come out of relegation
In another of this Sunday’s games, Corinthians, after eight games without winning, beat Fluminense 2-0 with two goals from Róger Guedes and finally came out of the last four in the standings that are punished with relegation.
It was the first win for Sao Paulo’s most popular team since Vandelei Luxemburgo took over as manager despite the fact that Fluminense, who ended three consecutive defeats, dominated much of the match but were not as effective in finishing.
On Saturday, Sao Paulo defeated Goiás 2-1 with goals from Pablo Maia and David -Maguinho opened the scoring for the visitors- and completed eleven games without losing since Dorival Júnior took over as the new coach. The victory allowed Sao Paulo to move up to third place, with 15 points, six behind Botafogo.
Also on Saturday, Gremio won 2-1 in their visit to Athletico Paranaense and climbed to fifth place, with 14 points.
read also
