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Brasileirão Week 26 Match Report: Palmeiras 2 - 1 Cruzeiro [Sun Sep 18th, 2005]
Palmeiras (6th - 42), under the stern gaze of Emerson Leão, continue to strengthen their title challenge with a comeback win that may not have been rewarded with a hike up the table, cemented their assault on the top spots for next week’s ‘rodada’.
Argentinean centre-forward Gioino was active in the first few minutes, hitting the Raposa crossbar and in sync with Diego Souza’s wall passes.
Nevertheless, just as the home crowd were rubbing their hands together and chanting, the Alviverde midfield let Adriano through onside and he clinically put Cruzeiro one up after 13 minutes of play. This seemed to set the Verdão on a suicide course, and the fans started chanting prematurely for Pedrinho to come on.
Diego Souza responded with some good play, but poor finishing, and Correa (33 min) sent the Cruzeiro keeper the wrong way to get the all-important equaliser. Despite the goal, the mounting frustration of not being able to make a quick comeback led to Fabiano childishly being sent off three minutes from the break. Leão’s forehead was a contour map of pulsating veins as he saw his work swirling down the drain.
Half-time must have seen the wax blasted out of Palmeiras players’ ears as the Verdão was clearly tightened up in spite of their ten-man handicap. Diego Souza was pulled back to act as an aggressive left-back, reflecting Luxemburgo’s use of the player in his Parque Antarctica days.
Gioino (46 min) lit up the terraces with the comeback goal, and in the seventh minute Juninho Paulista hit the crossbar. This woke Cruzeiro up, and the visitors came back with a slew of attacks, although Wagner put their bet shot over.
Steam began to pour out of Leão‘s ears at the gaping holes left all over the pitch by his men, Diego Souza refusing to cover the left flank, and Palmeiras survived by the skin of their teeth – largely thanks to the sale of Fred to Lyon.
The coach brought on Washington in an attempt to nail the Raposa down, but took him off 12 minutes later in favour of Roger’s hard marking. The fans chanted his name in support.
Baiano referee Lourival Dias Lima Filho gave four minutes of extra time, sending Leão into a litany of silent movie gestures, and local hearts were in mouths Victor Junior evened off the game – but to the relief of all Palmeirenses, the goal was disallowed as the player was judged to have been offside by linesman Alessandro Rocha.
Venue: Parque Antártica, São Paulo (SP)
Referee: Lourival Dias Lima Filho (BA)
Linesmen: Alessandro Rocha and Luiz Carlos Silva Teixeira (both BA)
Yellow Cards: Marcinho Guerreiro, Gioino, Fabiano and Juninho Paulista (Palmeiras); Maldonado, Adriano and Fábio Santos (Cruzeiro)
Red Cards: Fabiano (Palmeiras) and Fábio Santos (Cruzeiro)
Spectators: 20,612
PALMEIRAS: Sérgio; André Cunha, Daniel, Gamarra e Fabiano; Marcinho Guerreiro, Correa, Juninho and Diego Souza; Marcinho and Gioino (Washington) (Roger).
Coach: Emerson Leão.
CRUZEIRO: Fábio; Maurinho, Marcelo Batatais, Moisés and Anderson (Diego); Fábio Santos, Wagner (Victor Junior), Maldonado and Adriano; Kelly and Adriano Louzada (Tadeu).
Coach: Paulo César Gusmão.
Aaron Marcus
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