Palmeiras took the lead in the Brazilian Championship with the victory over Fortaleza at Castelão.
This Sunday (4/20), in a match valid for the fifth round of the Brazilian Championship, Palmeiras visited Fortaleza at Castelão, won 2-1 and took the lead. Facundo Torres and Flaco López scored for Verdão, which has not yet been defeated in the competition, while Deyverson scored for the home team.
In injury time, Weverton saved a penalty taken by Lucero and secured the victory. With the victory, Palmeiras reached 13 points – four wins and one draw. At the moment, Abel Ferreira’s team is followed by Flamengo, which tied with Vasco and reached 11. On the other hand, with the defeat, Fortaleza remained with five points, in 13th place.
Palmeiras returns to the field next Thursday (24), when they visit Bolívar, at the Libertador Simón Stadium. On Wednesday (23), Fortaleza visits Bucaramanga, at the Américo José Montanini Stadium. Both matches will be valid for the third round of the Libertadores group stage.
Palmeiras almost opened the scoring in the 26th minute of the first half. After receiving a pass from Emiliano Martínez in a counterattack, Estêvão beat his opponent’s markers with speed and carried the ball to the area. The forward then finished with a chip and João Ricardo saved. Despite the goalkeeper’s save, the ball went towards the goal, but Kuscevic cleared it on the line.
In the 44th minute of the first half, Palmeiras came close again. In a similar move to Estêvão’s, but on the left wing, Giay stole the ball from Allanzinho, carried it to the edge of the area and rolled it to Facundo Torres. The Uruguayan athlete received the ball unmarked and shot over João Ricardo, but defender David Luiz appeared at the last moment to clear it away.
The score finally opened in the 50th minute of the first half. After a free kick by Richard Ríos from the left, the ball deflected off Giay and fell to Facundo Torres, who made no mistake and finished low to score.
Second half
In the 13th minute of the second half, Palmeiras increased the lead. After a pass from Estêvão, Flaco López controlled one-on-one with David Luiz, cut to his left and shot low into the left corner of João Ricardo’s goal, who could do nothing. Fortaleza scored the equalizer in the 13th minute of the second half.
After a play and cross from Allanzinho on the right wing, former Palmeiras striker Deyverson got ahead of Giay in the six-yard box and headed the ball to keep Leão do Pici alive in the match. In the 48th minute of the second half, Fortaleza had the chance to equalize the score after Naves hit Deyverson in the face with his arm and the referee signaled a penalty. Lucero went to take the shot, hit the right corner and Weverton defended to save Verdão.
