Brasileiro: The Tournament No One Wants to Win

Bruno Romani | Oct 13, 2009 | Comments 0

Palmeiras Nautico

After the 29th round of Brasileiro, it seems no one wants to take the title home. Like in the last round, when only one club on the top won, the leaders collectively failed again. Palmeiras, Sao Paulo and Atletico-MG lost. Inter and Goias tied at home. And, in this way, Flamengo, the 6th side on the table, was the first team on the top to win.

After the results of Sao Paulo and Inter on Saturday, Palmeiras had the chance to increase the lead to 8 points. The rival was Nautico, a side that was going to stay in the relegation zone no matter the result. It was a great opportunity to have one hand in the trophy.

The locals, however, suffocated Palmeiras. The first-half ended 2-0, goals by Claudio Luiz and Bruno Mineiro. In the second-half, the latter scored again ( in an offside position, true). The 3-0 was not a larger difference because goalie Marcos worked a lot. True that Palmeiras missed Diego Souza, Edmilson, Armero and Obina, but the club had such a poor performance that the fans worry about a title that seemed in the pocket.

Sao Paulo had the chance to get closer. But not only the club took on a rival on a rise, but also it showed strong signs of apathy. The goal by midfielder Hernanes in the first-half did not erase the fact that Flamengo, in front, of 60 thousand fans, swallowed Sao Paulo. Conducted by veteran Serbian midfielder Petkovic, Flamengo came back and reached 8 match unbeaten streak. Petkovic scored from the spot and gave an assist to Ze Roberto score the second. With that, Sao Paulo is stuck in second and Flamengo is even close to the Libertadores zone.

Chance for Atletico-MG? The side tried and played better the Belo Horizonte derby against Cruzeiro. But Wellington Paulista, who later got injured, scored the only goal of the match. It was scored early in the match, but enough for Atletico failing to pass Sao Paulo and Inter in the table. Cruzeiro reached the 7th place and is not dead yet when it comes to a spot in the Libertadores.

The chances for Inter and Goias moving up in the table were even greater. Both sides played at home against Atletico-PR and Sport respectively. Atletico-PR is in 14th and Sport the last in the table. But the final score in the 2 matches was 1-1.

In Porto Alegre, things could’ve been worse for Inter. Atletico-PR played better, hit the post and had a penalty ignored by the referee, but scored only one goal through Patrick. Inter was able to score with only one minute left, through Alecssandro who reached 14 goals. Inter remains in third.

In Goiania, Goias failed to join the top 4. Sport played better the entire first-half, making goalie Harlei the name of the first 45 minutes. Then, with 5 minutes Leo Lima put the home ahead in the score board. But justice was made, and Luciano Henrique tied the match. Too little for a side that wants to go to the Libertadores.

The top of the table looks like this: Palmeiras 54, Sao Paulo 49, Inter 48, Atletico-MG 47, Goias 46, Flamengo 45.

Coincidence?

Again, the sides with players in the national failed to win. Like Inter in the last round, Flamengo was the exception. But Palmeiras (missing Diego Souza), Atletico-MG (missing Diego Tardelli), Sao Paulo (missing Miranda), Gremio (missing Victor) and Inter (missing Sandro) lost points again. Is it that hard for CBF to not schedule matches of the Brasileirao when the national team plays?

Relegation

The race is tight as well. Besides the important points gained by the two sides from Recife (Sport and Nautico), Fluminense had an important result in a clash against a direct rival. Fluminense visited Santo Andre and won 2-1 with goals by Alan (one of the few playing anything) and Fred (who scored again after another serious injury, but did not play that well). Camilo scored for Santo Andre.

Besides Santo Andre, the big loser of the round was Botafogo. After two great performances against two of the leaders, Bota failed to distance itself from the relegation zone with a draw at home. And it could’ve been a real disaster. Avai jumped ahead with two goals (Emerson and William – the same duo who scored against Palmeiras), but Victor Simoes scored twice in the second-half.

The bottom of the table looks like this: Botafogo 32, Santo Andre 29, Nautico 29, Sport 25, Fluminense 25.

Not much to say…

Coritiba 1 – 2 Barueri: Losing at home in the match that celebrates 100 years of the club was not what Coritiba fans expected. Thiago Humberto (remember this name) with a goal and an assist to Marcio Careca was the party spoiler. Bruno Batata gave the only nice moment to the local fans.

Corinthians 2 – 1 Gremio: Ronaldo was the man of the match with a goal and an assist to Elias. Rever scored for Gremio, whose bad news wasn’t only the defeat, but losing forward Jonas (14 goals in the league) with an injury. He will miss the rest of the league.

Santos 0 – 0 Vitoria: ZzzzzzZZZZzzzz

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