Brasileiro: Sao Paulo or Flamengo?
Bruno Romani | Nov 16, 2009 | Comments 1
After the 35th round of Brasileirao, one thing is clear: the champion will be red and black. The only thing that remains unclear is if it will also carry the white of Sao Paulo, or it will have just the two colors of Flamengo.
The two sides took advantage of Palmeiras’ tie against Sport and look ready for the title.
Sao Paulo received Vitoria at Morumbi and played one of its best matches of the year. The 2-0, goals by Jorge Wagner and Hugo, should’ve been much larger. But for the 53 fans at Morumbi that does not matter. Sao Paulo increased the lead over the second team and walks firmly towards the 4th title in a row.
That lead, however, could’ve been larger. But Flamengo won. And it won an extremely difficult battle against Nautico in Recife, the toughest of its 4 remaining matches. Again, Petkovic and Adriano scored. The duo is carrying Flamengo to very awaited title.
Another result that made Sao Paulo and Flamengo the biggest favorites for the title was the defeat of Atletico-MG against Coritiba. One more time in history, the side of Celso Roth lost steam. Coritiba is just fighting relegation, and Atletico managed to lose. The winning goal came only in the 85th minute with a penalty taken by Marcelinho Paraiba. Romulo (Coritiba) and Eder Luis (Atletico) had scored before.
Libertadores
As Atletico-MG said by to the title, its rival, Cruzeiro, may have said good bye for a sport in the Libertadores. The club tied at home against Gremio. The 1-1 had an important detail: Gremio had two players ejected and scored in the stoppage in the second-half with a goal by Herrera. Gilberto scored from the spot for the home team, which lost 24 points at home in this tournament. This is unacceptable.
Taking advantage of this draw, Inter returned to the top 4 after beating Santos. It was a easy journey since Santos had a 21 hour travel from Mexico, where it played a friendly match, Danilo Silva, Marquinhos and D’Alessandro scored for Inter while youngster Neymar scored the only goal of the visitors.
Another team new to the battlefor a spot in the Libertadores is Avai. This Sunday, the club thrashed Corinthians 3-1, with two goals by William and one by the good midfielder Leo Gago. Even the goal that Corinthians scored was actually an own goal by defender Marquinhos. The final scored could’ve been much larger.
The top of the table is the following: Sao Paulo 62, Flamengo 60, Palmeiras 59, Inter 56, Atletico-MG 56, Cruzeiro 55, Avai 53.
Fluminense Resurrects
Among the clubs in the tournament, Fluminense always seemed the one doomed to the second division. With 3 matches left, however, the club is the one who looks the best. After this weekend, things appear fantastic, as every other rival trying to escape lost and Flu.
Flu took on Atletico-PR at Maracana, and guess who scored again. That’s right. Fred. It was his 10th in 10 matches. Maicon, who’s been playing well since Fred returned, scored too. And it was a beautiful one. The goal by Marcelo did not change the fact that Flu is ready to stay in the first division.
And it may stay at the expense of a big rival, Botafogo. The reason for this is simple. Bota has not been playing well. On the weekend, it visited Barueri and was massacred as Val Baiano pulled a hat-trick. On top of that, the other spots for the second division seem filled.
Besides Sport, already relegated, Nautico and Santo Andre have the face of second division. Nautico lost to Flamengo. Santo Andre visited Goias and lost 3-1. The club jumped ahead with a nice goal by veteran Marcelinho Carioca, but once again, it lost steam. Fernandao with two headers and Iarley scored in the second-half.
Coritiba benefited from the victory over Atletico-MG. The result in the table is this:
Coritiba 44, Atletico-PR 43, Botafogo 41, Fluminense 39, Santo Andre 35, Nautico 35, Sport 31 (relegated).
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