Athletico Parananensewith one less player, won this Sunday 0-2 against Palmeiras and assumed the leadership of the Brazilian Soccer Championship, which the São Paulo players let slip away at home, despite the efforts of Estevao, Rafael Veiga and Endrick, the young promise signed by Real Madrid. Pablo scored the first goal in the replacement minutes of the first half and the victory for the Curitiba team was secured by the own goal of Paraguayan Gustavo Gómez in the 61st minute.
The victory returned Paranaense to the top of the classification table, where it leads with 13 points, the same as Bahía, which follows in second position by goal difference, after beating Bragantino 1-0 this Sunday. Flamengo, which had temporarily taken the lead on Saturday after beating Corinthians 2-0, is in third place, with 11 points, while its rival fell to sixteenth position.
Palmeiras finished in eighth place, with 8 points. In a duel in which all the forecasts pointed to the São Paulo team, current champions, as favorites, those led by Cuca took advantage of the counterattacks and speed to win, amid a shower of fouls and the expulsion of Argentine Lucas Esquivel.
The greatest motivation for those from Paraná came early, thanks to the performance of goalkeeper Bento, who, after committing a penalty for the foul he made on Endrick, managed to save the ball thrown by Rafael Vieira. The enthusiasm for those from Curitiba was later reinforced with Pablo’s goal.
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On the sixth day of the tournament, Fortaleza lost a 1-1 draw against Botafogo, in a match that did not have high expectations for any of the teams, who reserved their starters for the disputes they will have next week in the Copa Libertadores and South American.
With the away tie, the Rio de Janeiro club fell to fourth place, with 10 points, while Fortaleza rose one place, to eleventh place, with 7 points. Cruzeiro was one of the teams that advanced the most in the day, after winning 0-1 on their visit to Atlético Goiainense. The victory moved Belo Horizonte’s team up five places and they are now fifth with the same 10 points as the Cariocas, who surpass them on goal difference.
Mineiro and Bragantino, with seven points
In sixth position is Atlético Mineiro, with seven points, the same as Bragantino, which follows in eighth place. Mineiro, which was scheduled to receive Gremio, was one of the teams that saw its meeting postponed on this day, due to the tragedy that is being experienced in the south of Brazil due to flooding amid heavy rains. The International-Youth and Criciúma-Cuiaba meetings were also postponed.
Vasco da Gama was the other team that advanced this weekend by beating Vitoria 2-1. With the victory over the Bahians, Vasco added 6 points, climbed four steps and managed to get out of the relegation zone. Although the goals were from Maicon and the Argentine Pablo Vegetti, the applause went to the Frenchman Dimitri Payet, author of the two assists at the São Januário stadium.
