Palmeiras draws and expands negative series before the end of Libertadores

Palmeiras drew 2-2 against Atlético-MG on Tuesday night (23), at Allianz Parque, for the 35th round of the Brazilian Championship. Wesley and Deyverson scored for Alviverdes, Zaracho and Hulk noted in favor of Atleticans.

With the result, coach Abel Ferreira’s team has its fourth consecutive match without a win on the eve of its most important game of the season: the final of the Copa Libertadores, on Saturday (27), in Montevideo, against Flamengo. The club, current continental champion, seeks the tri-championship of America.

The draw at home joins defeats against Fluminense (2-1), São Paulo (2-0) and Fortaleza (1-0), all for the Brazilian, a sequence that puts pressure on the São Paulo team before the decision in Uruguay – more for performance than by the results in the National.

Atlético-MG is very close to winning the Brazilian title. Leader with 75 points, they are eight ahead of second-placed Flamengo, who drew with Grêmio in Porto Alegre, also 2-2.

The victory of the Cuca team on Sunday (28), over Fluminense, at Mineirão, and the rubro-negros stumble on Tuesday (30), against Ceará, confirms the cup to the Minas Gerais club with three rounds to the end of the championship.

This Tuesday, filled with reserves, Palmeiras opened the scoring with Wesley, at 27 minutes of play. The forward received a shot from Gabriel Veron, cut Guga at full-back and submitted a cross to mark the first of the hosts.

But the Alviverde advantage was short-lived. At 35, Zaracho took advantage of the rebound from goalkeeper Jailson after a strong kick by Arana and left everything the same for Allianz.

In the final stage, the referee Anderson Daronco, with the help of the VAR, saw Junior Alonso’s hand touch in a submission by Danilo Barbosa and scored a penalty. Patrick de Paula, who comes from an error in the defeat to São Paulo in the derby, charged for Everson’s defense.

However, in the sequence, the Palmeiras counted with the bad departure of the goalkeeper from a corner and Deyverson, after a charge by Patrick, headed to replace Palmeiras in front, at 11.

As in the first half, however, Abel’s team could not hold the favorable result for a long time. Four minutes after Deyverson’s goal, Hulk seized a ball on the edge of the area and kicked it hard, in Jailson’s corner, to tie again and score his 15th goal in the Brazilian Championship, a number that places him as the competition’s top scorer.

Palmeiras, which was 59th in the third place at Nacional, travels to Montevideo on this fourth (24th). The club is looking for a consecutive bi-championship of the Copa Libertadores, the third title in its history in the continental tournament.