Brasileiro: Sao Paulo Reaches the Top for the First Time

Without even stepping into the pitch on the weekend, Sao Paulo did something that has been very common for the club lately: It reached the top of Campeonato Brasileiro. In the 34th round of the tournament, the club, who fights for its 4th Brazilian title in a row, benefited from the defeats of Palmeiras and Atletico-MG.

Palmeiras went to Rio to take on Fluminense and did not resist the great moment of Fred. The ex-Lyon scored his 8th goal in 9 matches, which is, coincidence or not, the number of matches the Flu has been unbeaten. True that Palmeiras had a legal goal strangely made illegal by referee Carlos Eugenio Simon, but the ex-leader was never a threat to the home team. The decline of Palmeiras is clear. In the last 7 matches, it won only 5 points. On the other hand, the 67 thousand Flu fans who went to Maracana gained new hope, as the players seem to be making a real effort to not be sent to second division.

Flu’s rival, Flamengo, was the other club that helped Sao Paulo. Fla had a gigantic battle against Atletico-MG at the Mineirao, in a match that resembled some of the great clashes between the two clubs in the 80’s. Before Atletico could even think about pressuring Fla, the visitors opened the score with another Olympic goal by Petkovic, his second in that way in the tournament. Atletico felt the heat and tried to jump into an attacking mode. However, it gave lots of space for the counter-attack and this is how Fla reached the second, through defensive midfielder Maldonado. The 2-0 cooled down the actions of the home team, despite the fact that it kept great ball possession and missed a few chances here and there. Not even when Atletico score, through Ricardinho, things got on fire. Right after that, Adriano, who was having his personal battle against Atletico’s Diego Tardelli, gave final numbers. It was his 18th in the tournament, same number as Tardelli. With the victory, Flamengo took the third position from Atletico and is just 2 points away from Sao Paulo. Despite helping Sao Paulo, Fla is a real contender for the title.

Among the clubs still dreaming of title, Inter was one more time a failure and Cruzeiro confirmed the good moment. Inter just tied with Barueri after a blunder of goalie Lauro. Marcio Careca scored. The goal by Fabiano Eller did very little to help the side headed by Mario Sergio. What promised to be a good year for Inter is turning into frustration. Cruzeiro, on the other hand, visited Sport and had an impressive comeback. The home team led 2-0 with two goals by Wilson. But Cruzeiro, taking advantage of the defensive weaknesses of the last side in the table, cameback with two goals (by Leonardo Silva and Guerron) in the second-half with goals. The comeback started with Thiago Ribeiro in the first-half. The victory kept Cruzeiro with the best campaign of the second portion of the tournament. As for Sport, the defeat left the club a step away from the second division.

After the 34th round, this is the top of Brasileirao: Sao Paulo 59, Palmeiras 58, Flamengo 57, Atletico-MG 56, Cruzeiro 54, Inter 53.

Rio Up, Recife Down

The fight against relegation is getting tighter. After the weekend, the clubs from Rio were benefited while the clubs from Recife seem to be dying together.

Besides Flu, who jumped to 17th, Botafogo won on the weekend with goals by Renato and Lucio Flavio. The victory was against a direct rival, Coritiba, and left the club 5 points away from the relegation zone. It seems Bota and Flu will fight to see who will be going to second division, but if Coritiba does not watch, it may just getting relegated in the year of its centenary.

As for the clubs from Recife, what a terrible round. Sport, after the defeat against Cruzeiro, can get relegated already in the next round. And its rival Nautico is not that far. Nautico visited Santos at Pacaembu and watched the return of the good game of Neymar, after the miserable failure in the U17 World Cup. The kid left the bench and scored twice in the second-half. Kleber Pereira had opened the score for Santos in the first-half. The lonely goal by Ailton did not help the visitors.

The other club that seems ready for the second division is Santo Andre. The club played against Corinthians and saw Ronaldo deliver it again. The phenomenon scored from a long range and had participation in the the second goal by Dentinho.

After the 34th round, this is the bottom of Brasileirao: Coritiba 41, Botafogo 41, Fluminense 35, Santo Andre 35, Nautico 35, Sport 30.

Not Important

Atletico-PR 2 – 0 Goias: Goals by Marcinho and Wallyson

Vitoria 0 – 1 Avai: Goal by William