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Brasileirão 2005 Week 22 Midweek Wrap [Sat Aug 27th, 2005]
The boy wonder played his last Brazilian league game in the heart of the Amazon, discrete but as charmed as ever, helping the Peixe back to the top of the table. Corinthians lost, but thanks to the draw between Goiás and Paraná stay a cut above the rest. Elsewhere, Leão guided Palmeiras to yet another win, and Renato Gaúcho’s Vasco also swiped three points.
Robinho played his last minutes of the Brazilian league in Belém; the humid capital of the Amazon state, helping his Santos (2nd – 39) to regain lost ground and stake their claim for pole position in the Brasileirão 2005 with a 2-3 win over the northerners. The Peixe only lose out to level-pegged Corinthians by one victory. Mere hours before jetting off to Madrid, the (now ex) number 7 took a back seat to the emerging football of youngster GeÃÂlson.
This time the ‘pedaladas’ were half-hearted and stalled against a ‘Papão’ defense unafraid to resort to fouling. GeÃÂlson, for his part, was active in all three Santos goals, showing a keenness to replace the new ‘galactico’ that should provide for an interesting second half of the league. Robinho finished the game with waves towards stands he patently would have preferred to have been in the Vila Belmiro.
Corinthians (1st – 39) saw their unbeaten streak truncated by a plucky Juventude at the other end of the country in Caxias do Sul. With Tevez serving his third suspended game (after mutually exchanging colourful insults with a referee) the Parque São Jorge team looked toothless in attack – Carlos Alberto still misfiring on all cylinders – and was unable to even equalise the southerner’s goal.
The one-all draw between Goiás and Paraná Clube ensured the Timão could still boast a slight lead over Santos and the two high-flying zebras.
Palmeiras (8th – 35) could count on the talented help of 16 year-old Cláudio to extend Emerson’s unbeaten run against São Caetano in a Parque Antártica getting used to positive results. Michael and Washington scored for the Verdão while Triguinho got the consolation strike – and a beautiful one at that – for the Azulão.
The hits keep on coming for São Paulo (19th – 22), still apparently cursed after their flamboyant third Copa Libertadores conquest. Amoroso, soothing the pain of Luizão’s departure with remarkable reliability, at least bagged a point along with his goal in an anodyne binary draw with a Fluminense (7th – 36) team that continue to showcase the goalscoring talents of Tuta.
Europe is watching, and alongside Cruzeiro’s Fred, expect to see a European club fish the number 9 in the winter season.
Muricy Ramalho’s ‘Colorado’ (Internacional do Porto Alegre) can afford a self-congratulatory pat on the back after twisting the knife in the lone star’s side with a lean win over Botafogo (10th – 32) in their improvised Luso-Brasileiro home. Élder Granja managed to guide the ball home in front of no less than eight Carioca defenders, while Alex Alves missed a penalty and the Fogão hit the post twice – in the same unlucky move.
In other action involving the two remaining members of the Carioca ‘Big 4’, Vasco (16th – 28) overcame the surprisingly stiff opposition put up by Marcelinho Carioca & Vampeta’s Brasiliense to the approval of their home São Januário crowd. Flamengo (18th – 24) held Cruzeiro to a soporific draw in the Mineirão, but at least ended the ‘rodada’ safe from the jaws of relegation.
Full Results
Ponte Preta 0 Atlético Paranaense 2
Palmeiras 2 São Caetano 1
Vasco 1 Brasiliense 0
Goiás 1 Paraná 1
São Paulo 1 Fluminense 1
Juventude 1 Corinthians 0
Paysandu 2 Santos 3
Cruzeiro 0 Flamengo 0
Figueirense 0c Atlético Mineiro 1
Coritiba 2 Fortaleza 0
Botafogo 0 Internacional 1
Aaron Marcus
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