Palmeiras and Atletico come back from 2-2 draw
Palmeiras showed strength and pulled off a heroic 2-2 draw with Palmeiras in a very busy game, played on Wednesday night (3) at the Mineirao stadium, valid for the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores. The definition of who qualifies for the semifinals of the competition will be next week, when the teams meet again at Allianz Parque, in São Paulo.
Whoever advances between Galo and Verdão will face the winner of the clash between Athletico-PR and Estudiantes (Argentina), which begins next Thursday (4) at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba.
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The Match
Atlético-MG started better in the match, forcing the marking in Palmeiras’ field in order to try to steal the ball and create chances to score. With this posture, Galo didn’t take long to create opportunities. In the second minute, Zaracho shot a bicycle kick to the defense of goalkeeper Weverton.
Five minutes later it was Hulk’s turn to finish, with a bomb that ended up going over the goal. In the second half of the game, the Verdão (the Brazilian Verdão) arrived for the first time with danger in the 10th minute, Gustavo Scarpa’s free-kick was saved by Everson.
However, the dominance was really Galo, who piled up opportunities with Zaracho (12), Keno (14, 16 and 25), Hulk (17) and Ademir (with a shot on the post at 31). Despite the dominance of Cuca’s team, Palmeiras even gave the Miners a scare when Piquerez put the ball in the back of the net in the 39th minute. But the move was overturned by the referee with the aid of VAR (video referee) because of irregular position of Scarpa.
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At 43 minutes Jair received in the area, tried to spin over the marking of Marcos Rocha and ended up being brought down. The referee signaled penalty, which was charged by Hulk with perfection. With this goal the number 7 became Atlético-MG’s top scorer in the history of the continental competition with a total of 12 goals.
In the return from the break, Galo showed efficiency, as in the first minute Keno advanced down the left wing and crossed low into the middle of the area. The defender Murilo got involved and ended up scoring an own goal. However, Palmeiras was not dead, and managed to take it back in the 13th minute. Scarpa hit the crossbar on a beautiful free-kick and Murilo took advantage of the rebound to score, redeeming his previous failure.
With the goal the Verdão was excited and fought until the end. And the effort was rewarded in the 46th minute, when Scarpa took a corner kick in the area, Dudu deflected and Danilo just put the ball in the back of the net to get a very important draw.
Upcoming engagements
After the decisive match in the Libertadores Cup, Palmeiras will again defend its leadership in the Brazilian Championship, against Goiás on Sunday (7). On the same day, Atlético-MG receives Athletico-PR at Mineirão.
