Palmeiras beats Corinthians in the first derby of Portuguese coaches

In the first derby with Portuguese coaches from both sides, it was Palmeiras. On the syntactic pitch of Allianz Parque, in the west of São Paulo, the home team prevailed over Corinthians and won 2-1, with goals from Raphael Veiga and Danilo. Róger Guedes even left the duel tied before the marker was defined.

It was a match in which the physical difference between the young team led by Abel Ferreira and the experienced team led by Vítor Pereira was evident. The visitors were cornered by the hosts and were only able to make use of their good technical quality in rare situations. Thus, they lost for the third time in three classics in the season.

The triumph assured Palmeiras, now with 29 points, the first place overall in the first phase of the Paulista Championship, which will end at the weekend. In the quarterfinals, the club will face Ituano, Botafogo or Mirassol. Corinthians, with 20, is classified with the leadership of Group A and will face Inter de Limeira, Guarani or Água Santa.

At Allianz Parque, Ferreira’s strategy frustrated Pereira’s athletes. The alvinegra formation had a hard time getting out of the defense field, where they were often disarmed. Stolen the ball in the attack, the alviverde team looked for the plays by the ends, especially on the right, where they had an advantage.

In the first half, there was only one moment when Corinthians overcame the mark. After a beautiful pass from Renato Augusto, Fagner failed to finish. On the other side, Palmeiras pressed and reached the penalty goal that was not initially scored by the young judge Matheus Candançan, 23.

Guided by the video referee José Cláudio Rocha Filho and pressured by the (unique) alviverde crowd, Candançan whistled the penalty he saw from Gil in Danilo. There was a lot of contestation, but Raphael Veiga made the effort with force, in the right corner of Cássio, who jumped to the other side and had the net swung.

In the final stage, with the opponent already worn out by the pressure exerted in the initial 45 minutes, Pereira’s team gained space in the attacking field and sought a tie in penalty, which was whistled by the field referee himself. Weverton jumped well, at 16, but the ball went into the right angle, far from his reach.

It didn’t take long, however, for Palmeiras to take the lead again. At 24, in a corner generated in another foul questioned by the Corinthians, Cássio initially made the defense in Rony’s header. Danilo, however, appeared free to take advantage of the rebound and give the home team the victory.