Botafogo beat this Sunday 2-0 at America in a match in the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship; confirmed himself as the leader of the League and increased the advantage that separated him from palmeirasreigning champion, favorite for the title and his immediate successor in the standings.
The team led by Portuguese coach Luis Castro completed seven victories in eight games, reaching 21 points and benefiting from the 1-1 draw handed by Palmeiras when they visited Atlético Mineiro.
Palmeiras, also led by Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira, remained unbeaten and in second place in the standings, with 16 points, while Mineiro, led by Argentine coach Eduardo Coudet, moved up to fourth place , with 14 points.
In a match played at their stadium, the Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro, Botafogo opened the scoring two minutes into the game after Júnior Santos finished off a header he received inside the area from Di Placido.
Without Tiquinho Soares, their main offensive weapon, currently the Championship scorer with six goals and having to serve a suspension date due to the accumulation of yellow cards, the Rio de Janeiro team struggled to create and ended up crashing in an America that played to defend itself.
Botafogo increased the pressure in the second half and scored their second goal in the 59th minute, when Luis Henrique, after receiving a back-heeled pass from Eduardo, eluded goalkeeper Mateus Pasinato and only had to push the ball into a empty net.
Palmeiras earned a crucial 1-1 draw in their visit to Atlético Mineiro, leaving them in second place but further off the leaders. Rony came on to open the scoring for Palmeiras at the start of the game with a great goal from the Chilean but the score was annulled after VAR was consulted for an offside.
Weberton, goalkeeper of Palmeiras and this Sunday called again for the Brazilian team, saved the team from conceding several goals. Argentine Cristian Pavón opened the scoring for Mineiro late in the first half by capitalizing on a mistake by Paraguayan defender Gustavo Gómez, but Dudú equalized for Palmeiras in the 51st minute when he headed in an assist from to Artur.
Corinthians won and came out of relegation
In another game on Sunday, Corinthians, after eight games without a win, beat Fluminense 2-0 with two goals from Róger Guedes and finally moved out of the last four of the relegation-penalized standings.
It was the first win for Sao Paulo’s most popular team since Vandelei Luxemburgo took over as manager despite the fact that Fluminense, who ended a three-match losing streak, dominated most of the match but were less effective towards the end.
On Saturday, Sao Paulo beat Goiás 2-1 with goals from Pablo Maia and David -Maguinho opened the scoring for the visitors- and completed an eleven game unbeaten run since Dorival Júnior took over as new coach. The victory allowed Sao Paulo to move up to third place, with 15 points, six behind Botafogo.
Also on Saturday, Gremio won 2-1 in their visit to Athletico Paranaense and moved up to fifth place, with 14 points.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
