2-1: Botafogo’s defeat does not drop them a leader

He Botafogoled by Portuguese coach Luís Castro and head of the Brazilian Soccer Championship, lost their unbeaten record on Sunday with a 2-1 defeat against Goias, in a game that closed the sixth day of the league. The Rio de Janeiro side, who are on fifteen points, took advantage of Saturday’s draw against their immediate rivals, Palmeiras, and retained sole first position in the tournament.

Maguinho and Bruno Melo were the winners for the Goiania team, while the championship striker, Tiquinho Soares, gave a discount for those from Rio de Janeiro.

In the Curitiba city derby, Athletico Paranaense defeated neighboring Coritiba 3-2 on a stoppage-time goal from Uruguayan Agustín Canobbio. Argentine Marcelino Moreno, meanwhile, left his mark with one of Coritiba’s goals. The São Paulo derby between Corinthians and Sao Paulo ended 1-1. The purpose of the visit was changed by Uruguayan Michel Araújo.

In another classic of the date, in Belo Horizonte, bottom club América lost 4-0 at home to Cruzeiro led by Portuguese coach Pepa. Vasco da Gama suffered a 0-1 defeat in Rio de Janeiro against Santos, while Gremio, with Uruguayan Luis Suárez, succumbed to a 0-0 draw with Fortaleza, led by Argentine coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda and remains undefeated.

On Saturday, eventual league champions Palmeiras conceded a 1-1 home draw against Bragantino and despite remaining unbeaten in the tournament missed the chance to eliminate leaders Botafogo. As a result, Palmeiras reached fourteen points in six games, one less than Botafogo. Attacker Endrick, the great promise of Brazilian football and already in talks with Real Madrid, which he will leave in 2024 when he is 18 years old, entered the second half to replace Rony.

Also on Saturday, at the start of the sixth day of the Brazilian Championship, Flamengo beat Bahía 2-3 as a guest. The experimental defender David Luiz scored his first goal with the team of Rio de Janeiro and as a surprising fact, in the middle of the second half, the Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, from Flamengo, made the all five of his variants at once.

In Rio de Janeiro, Fluminense rose to third position, with thirteen points, after defeating Cuiabá 2-0. One of the carioca team’s goals was converted by Paulo Henrique Ganso. Cuiabá, still in the relegation zone, announced this weekend the return of Portuguese coach Antonio Oliveira.

In the last game on Saturday, Atlético Mineiro, led by Argentine coach Eduardo ‘Chacho’ Coudet, won 2-0 against Internacional in Belo Horizonte. Chilean Eduardo Vargas scored the first local goal.