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Brasileiro: 2 Rounds Left; 4 Clubs Still Can Win It

Bruno Romani — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:16:06 +0000

When Palmeiras lost for Gremio on Wednesday, it seemed only Sao Paulo and Flamengo still fought for the title, right? Wrong! The two sides dropped important points, and Inter won. The result? 4 teams still have the chance to lift the title on December 6th.

Sao Paulo visited Botafogo, which found itself in a very difficult situation in the relegation struggle. With half of the team suspended, Sao Paulo suffered in the hands of forward Jobson, who scored twice (the second one in the final minutes of the match) and gave an assist to Renato. Bota scored first, Sao Paulo cameback (goals by Washington and Jorge Wagner),but the home team cameback again. Botafogo won its own final while Sao Paulo, despite losing, kept the lead with a help of Flamengo.

Flamengo played the night game, and stepped into the pitch of a packed Maracana already knowing that a simple victory was going to land them the first place. But that’s not what happened. In a good game of goalie Harlei, Goias kept the score board unchanged. The 78 thousand Fla fans could not be more frustrated. It was their chance.

While the “only” contenders (as the media saw, at least) lost points, Inter took on Atletico-MG at Mineirao. The two sides were focusing the Libertadores, but the lonely goal of Marquinhos in the beginning of the match gave Inter more to dream about. Inter took the third place from Palmeiras and is just 3 points away from Sao Paulo. That makes Inter a candidate for the title again. As for Atletico-MG, disappointing is the only word to describe its performance in the final rounds of the tournament.

At least, Atletico-MG won’t have to deal with Cruzeiro fans. Atletico’s main rival are out of the race for the title and is far from the Libertadores too. On the weekend, the club visited Atletico-PR and just tied. And it could’ve been worse. After Marcinho, ex-Cruzeiro, scored for Atletico, Cruzeiro had to wait until the last minute to celebrate the goal of defender Leonardo Silva.

This is the top of the table: Sao Paulo 62, Flamengo 61, Inter 59, Palmeiras 59, Atletico-MG 56, Cruzeiro 56

Relegation: 4 Clubs and 1 Funeral

The fight to escape the second division remains intense and close to an ending. At this point the two sides from Rio and the two from Curitiba are fighting to fill the last spot available.

On the weekend, every club trying to escape, but one, won their matches. Nautico visited Corinthians and won 3-2. Bruno Mineiro, Carlinhos Bala and Ailton, the decent names that Nautico has, scored. Bala scored with only 5 minutes left and Ailton with 2 minutes into the stoppage time. In a normal situation, this would’ve been a great result, but with the other sides winning, Nautico remains 6 points away from the first side outside the relegation zone.Ronaldo and Elias scored for Corinthians.

Santo Andre received and crushed the tournament’s sensation Avai. In the 4-2, veteran Marcelinho Carioca, Wanderley and Camilo (twice) scored for the home team while Muriqui and Marquinhos for the visitors. Again, this could’ve been a good result in a normal situation, but as Nautico, Santo Andre is 6 points away from the relegation zone. Very little can be done.

With Sport already relegated and Nautico and Santo Andre very close to that, there’s one spot left. Botafogo, Fluminense, Coritiba and Atletico-PR are the candidates.

Bota had the great result against Sao Paulo and is outside of the death zone. Atletico-PR tied with Cruzeiro. And Fluminense beat a dead horse as it visited Sport. After Sport’s Moacir was ejected in the second-half, Flu scored three times – the first an own goal of Ze Antonio. The other two by two of Flu’s best: Fred (again!) and Conca. What seemed impossible now is very possible to avoid. Flu wants to stay.

On the other hand, there’s a side that slowly is becoming my biggest candidate for the second division. Coritiba was humiliated by the not so strong side of Santos. After the match, Luxemburgo even said that his players should not get all excited because they Coritiba seemed dead on the pitch. The goals were scored by names that shined earlier this year: Madson, Kleber Pereira and Neymar (twice). In the year of its centenary, Coritiba is asking for it. And as reminder: in the very last round Coritiba will visit Fluminense.

The bottom of the table: 44 Coritiba, Atletico-PR 44, Botafogo 44, Fluminense 42, Santo Andre 38, Nautico 38, Sport 31 (relegated).

Not that important

Vitoria eliminated any possibilities of an unexpected relegation by beating Barueri 2-1. The three goals were scored by the best of each side. Leandro Domingues and Roger (14 goals in the tournament) for Vitoria and Val Baiano for Barueri.

Brasileiro: Sao Paulo Reaches the Top for the First Time

Bruno Romani — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:13:47 +0000

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

Brasileiro: Unstoppable Palmeiras

Bruno Romani — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:39:48 +0000

On the 27th round of Brasileirao, Palmeiras gave an important step towards the title by keeping the 5 point lead over Sao Paulo, the second team in the table. And it wasn’t a simple victory. It was a clear display of the discipline, power and luck (why not?) against Santos at Vila Belmiro.

It is true that Santos does not have a good team this season. But the match was in Santos and it was the first time Luxemburgo faced Palmeiras after being fired. Therefore, the match had all the elements to be tough for the squad headed by Muricy.

The first-half was mild and both sides seemed satisfied with a draw. Then Santos woke up the giant. Luisinho scored for the home team with 10 minutes into the second-half. And a few missed chances followed. Too dangerous when you play against the leader.

Muricy replaced Obina by Robert. Palmeiras shot 3 times. 3 goals. Diego Souza, the MVP of the league so far, scored the first and gave start to the goals scored by Robert and Vagner Love. Without showing off or putting much pressure, Palmeiras pocketed the 3 points. The title seems a matter of time.

Title? Maybe Not…

The race for the title seems to include less and less sides. Both Inter and Goias lost and see the leader more distant. And both sides lost for teams fighting relegation. Inter visited Coritiba and allowed two goals, scored by Marco Aurelio and Thiago Gentil, in the final 15 minutes. With the defeat, Inter lost a place in the Libertadores zone. And coach Tite was fired. Mario Sergio was hired in his place.

Even though Goias did not fire its coach, its result was even worse than Inter’s. In the first 20 minutes of the second-half, Goias allowed the visitors to score 3 goals. And the visitors were Botafogo, a side in the relegation zone. The goals were scored by Jobson, Victor Simoes and Andre Lima. Goias was able to score its only goal only in the stoppage time, through Amaral. The result kept Goias in fourth, 8 points behind Palmeiras.

Libertadores

The one side who had a positive weekend was Atletico-MG. The side headed by Celso Roth is alive and will fight for a spot in the Libertadores. The team beat Barueri at home 2-1. One goal was scored by Brazil International Diego Tardelli. The other goal was scored in free-kick taken by midfielder Correa. He returned to Brazil and is playing some serious football. The goal of the visitors was scored by Flavinho. Atletico is in third in the table.

Resurrection and Relegation

The weekend also had 2 matches putting face to face 2 sides still dreaming of a place in the Libertadores zone and 2 sides trying to scape the relegation zone.

Flamengo played the derby against Fluminense. It was the last derby at Maracana in a long time. The stadium will be closed for reforms aiming the 2014 World Cup. And the emperor closed well this chapter of the stadium. Flamengo suffocated Fluminense, specially in the second half, and Adriano scored twice. He reached 15 goals in the league, the top scorer, resurrected Fla’s dreams of Libertadores and sentenced Fluminense to death. Flu has only 21 points, 7 behind the first team outside the relegation zone. Almost impossible to scape. Flamengo is in sixth, just 4 points behind the first team in the Libertadores zone.

Gremio, on the other hand, tripped over Sport at home. Gremio jumped ahead 3 times in the score board, goals by Jonas and Maxi Lopes (twice). But Sport insisted in getting the draw – goals by Vandinho, Paulinho and Fininho. And Gremio also missed a penalty taken by Tcheco and saved by Magrao. The draw was bad for both sides, as Gremio is far from the Libertadores zone, and Sport is still the second the last in the table.

Still in the relegation fight, Santo Andre managed to stay out of the death roll by beating Vitoria. The only goal of the match was score by Nunes with just 33 seconds into the match.

No Interests nor worries

Two matches involving sides with very few interests or worries in the league. Corinthians was humiliated at home by Atletico-PR, who won 3-1. The goals of the visitor were scored by Paulo Baier, Wallyson and Wesley. Jucilei scored for Corinthians.

In Florianopolis, Avai, the home team, tied with Cruzeiro in 2 goals. The goals for the home team were score by Leo Gago and Cristian. Cruzeiro scored by Leonardo Silva and Fabricio.