Gustavo Gomes, Gustavo Scarpa and Endrick made Matheus Felipe’s initial goal insufficient
The ‘Verdao’ can be champion this week if Corinthians and Internacional leave points on Wednesday
The palm trees won this Tuesday by 1-3 on his visit to Athletico Paranaense with goals from Paraguayan Gustavo Gomes, midfielder Gustavo Scarpa and promising youngster Endrick, and practically guaranteed the title of the Brazilian Championship with four games remaining in the tournament. The green set of Sao Paulo can be crowned champion of the League on Wednesday in case Internacional and Corinthians, the only ones with a mathematical chance of snatching the title, suffer some setbacks, even draws, in their matches for the thirty-fourth day.
Tuesday’s victory at Paranaense’s home, which reserved its starters for Saturday’s game in which it will face fellow Brazilian Flamengo for the Copa Libertadores title in Guayaquil, allowed Palmeiras to add 74 points and open a distance of 13 over Internacional, their main threat, when there are 12 points left in dispute. But Internacional will host Ceará on Wednesday and, with an eventual victory, can reduce the leader’s lead to 10 points. Corinthians, fourth in the standings with 57 points and 17 behind the leader, can also maintain a mathematical chance of reaching Palmeiras if they get two victories in the games they have pending: this Wednesday against Fluminense and next Saturday against Goiás. The two victories would allow Corinthians to reduce the distance that separates them from Palmeiras to 11 points with four games remaining in the League.
The leader of the League achieved an important comeback in his visit to Paranaense after, even dominating the match, he allowed the defender Matheus Philip opened the scoring for those from Curitiba in the first half. The green team from Sao Paulo only got the tie in the 13th minute of the second half thanks to a goal from Gustavo Scarpa, his main player in the season. Palmeiras increased his dominance and his pressure from the 16th minute after the expulsion of the Argentine Tomás Cuello, which left Paranaense with one player less for the rest of the game. At 24 minutes the youth Endrick, one of the main promises of Brazilian football today, put Palmeiras ahead by heading in an assist from Rony, a goal that, at 16, made him the youngest player to score among the team’s professionals. Paraguayan Gómez completed the scoring also with a header and after a corner kick taken by Scarpa.
In the other game this Tuesday, the flamingowhich also reserved part of its starters for the Libertadores final on Saturday, won by 3-2 to the Saints in the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro with goals from the Uruguayan Giorgian de Arrascaetathe juvenile Pedro and the veteran Marinho. The Argentinian Gabriel Carabajal Y Alex discounted for Santos. The victory allowed Flamengo to move up to second place in the Brazilian Championship standings, but, 13 points behind Palmeiras, they no longer have a mathematical chance of winning the title.
Four days before the final of the Libertadores, Flamengo bids farewell to Brazil with an important victory and with their starters fit and oxygenated, and Paranaense with a defeat that leaves them in sixth place in the standings, 23 points behind the leader. The two Brazilian rivals in the final of the Libertadores plan to travel to the city of Guayaquil on Wednesday, where they will define the successor of Palmeiras, champion of the last two editions of the continental tournament.
