O Santos won the Palm trees 1-0, this Sunday (31), in Vila Belmiro, and took the lead in the fight for the title of Paulista championship.
Otero scored the goal for Peixe, who are now playing for a simple draw to become champions.
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Alviverde, in turn, lost a 20-game unbeaten run and will need to beat their rival by two goals to win the cup. Or for one to take the decision to penalties.
It is worth remembering that this was the first defeat for Abel Ferreira’s team in the State Championship, which for the third year in a row started behind in the decision – and in the last two, it managed to turn things around.
The grand final will be next Sunday (4), at 6pm (Brasília time), at Allianz Parque.
The game
The 1st half was balanced, but with a slight superiority from Santos. Palmeiras started better and almost opened the scoring in the 4th minute, when Flaco López stopped at João Paulo.
After that, pushed by the fans, Peixe started to dominate the actions and wasted good chances of starting in front. At the best opportunity, Guilherme hit low, and the ball went close to Weverton’s right post.
And right at the beginning of the 2nd, Santos found the back of the net. At 2, Guilherme crossed for Otero, with a header, making it 1-0 for Carille’s team.
The goal set the classic on fire! Behind the scoreboard, Palmeiras started to put pressure on and forced goalkeeper João Paulo to make good saves, especially from shots from Mayke, Marcos Rocha, Rony and even from Felipe Jonatan, who almost missed the goal.
Betting on the counterattack, Peixe also faced danger, but Weverton worked to prevent another goal from his rival.
Otero celebrates a goal against Palmeiras with Santos players Mauro Horita/Gazeta Press
Neymar goes crazy!
Santos idol, Neymar held the Paulistão cup on the Vila Belmiro lawn before the ball rolled.
The attacker of Al Hilal He was invited by Peixe’s board of directors to participate in the match ceremony. He gave a motivational speech in Carille’s team locker room and took the opportunity to watch the game in a box.
When the goal was scored, the national team player couldn’t contain himself and celebrated a lot.