It was after this goal, in fact, that Verdão managed to open up the lead in two set pieces and seemed to have done enough to control the game. Until Raphael Veiga fell into Corinthians’ trap and was sent off. Garro tried to intimidate Estêvão after a dribble and was bumped into by the Palmeiras midfielder. It is true that Daronco’s red card could be considered excessive, but the Palmeiras player gave the chance to bad luck.
Even with an extra player, Timão clearly struggled to create opportunities. When Garro or Coronado found a pass, Yuri Alberto, Pedro Henrique and Pedro Raul lacked the quality to finish. The latter, by the way, was an option that Antônio Oliveira made that was hard to understand when he was put on the field in place of Wesley, the only one who could trouble the Palmeiras defense.
The game was very poor in terms of technique, especially in the first half. The home team showed a creativity well below average, with Raphael Veiga and Estêvão well below their potential and Gabriel Menino practically non-existent. On the other side, Corinthians had little interest in attacking and tried to escape with a ball to open the score.
In the second half, the game was heading in the same direction. It was from a set piece that Veiga managed to break the deadlock, which ruined Corinthians’ strategy. While still trying to reprogram the team after the goal, Corinthians conceded the second goal and had its chances practically buried.
Still, Palmeiras is on alert. If today they were without Aníbal, Murilo, Rony, Gustavo Gómez, Richard Rios and Endrick, for the match against Grêmio next Thursday Verdão will have the return of the first four, but will not be able to count on Zé Rafael, Gabriel Menino and Veiga.
