Fourth Round:Goalie scores, Olympic Goal, Heel, Derbies. Need More?
By: Bruno Romani | June 4th, 2007The fourth round of the Brasileirão brought back again the Brazilian flavor to stadiums. Beautiful goals and curious facts happened all over the country. Balls hitting the post appeared as much as the ones hitting the back of the net.
Saturday
On Saturday, Botafogo became the leader by defeating Grêmio by 3-0 at the Maracanã. The bad news for Grêmio, however, is that striker Tuta got injured and is probably out of the Libertadores. The two Atléticos tied by 1-1 at the Mineirão, and Goiás lost again against Figueirense in Florianópolis by 2-1.
Palmeiras 1 x 3 Cruzeiro
On Sunday, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro played in São Paulo the match of the Italian community. Both clubs were named Palestra Itália in the 40’s but were forced to change their names due to World War 2. Before the match, the teams brought the Italian flag to the pitch and listened to the Italian anthem.
With 5 minutes into the game Araújo put the visitors ahead of the game. The match followed with both team fighting in the middle and dangerously getting closer to the big areas. In a corner, Martinez tied the game scoring against his ex-team. Before the first-half came to and end, Cruzeiro scored again in a bizarre play in which Ramires did a one-two by kicking the ball in his teammate’s butt.
In the second-half, Palmeiras hit the post twice, but Cruzeiro seemed to be closer to the third goal, like a snake waiting for the right moment to kill its victim. That happened with only 3 minutes to end through forward Roni, who was playing his debut after moving from Flamengo. Roni and Araújo turned Palmeiras’ defenders afternoon into hell. The home team also missed the creativity of Valdívia, who is with the Chilean squad.
This is the first victory of Cruzeiro in the league and the first defeat of Palmeiras.
Derbies
Two local derbies added thrill to the round. In Santos, the home team received Corinthians, who scored first through Zelão after goal-keeper Fábio Costa failed to hold the ball from crossing. After that, Carpegiani set-up Corinthians like Paraguay of 1998 to stop the team B of Santos, who is more worried about the Libertadores.
The strategy worked until the Timão’s physical condition lasted. Santos put a lot of pressure and finally tied with 32 minutes into the second-half through a header of Marcelo, who scored his first goal as a professional. This is the first goal Corinthians conceded in the league, and it was the first goal the goal-keeper Felipe conceded in 6 and a half matches. The post appeared a few times during the 90 minutes, and for the santistas the bad news is that Maldonado got injured and is likely not to play against Grêmio on Wednesday.
In Rio, the local derby between Vasco and Fluminense also ended with a 1-1. Both clubs had very few opportunities, and fought a lot in the midfield. Vasco scored first through Abedi (who got a very strange yellow-card after his even stranger celebration), and Fluminense, who was saving its main players for the finals of Copa do Brasil, tied through Rafael. That was the first time coach Renato Gaúcho faced his ex-club, Vasco.
Other Matches
Juventude crushed América-RN by 3-0 in Caxias do Sul. The first goal by Da Silva using his heel was pure grace. That was the first victory of the club from Rio Grande do Sul in the league, but still they’re in the relegation zone.
In Recife, Sport and Flamengo played a thrilling game that ended with 2 draw. Renato from Flamengo scored an Olympic goal, and Fumagalli scored again for Sport from a free-kick. The guy is old but is showing improvement at the end of his career.
Finally, in Curitiba São Paulo played again the most boring match of the weekend, this time against Paraná. Coach Muricy Ramalho brought back to the starting line-up the players considered by the fans as the responsible for the bad moment the club is experiencing. Souza, Leandro and Aloísio showed little improvement.
Still, the club made enough to win by 1-0 helped the referee. Goal-keeper Rogério Ceni, in his 300th appearance in the Campeonato Brasileiro, scored from the spot the goal number 72 of his career. The only good news for the paulista side is that it holds the best defense of the tournament, having conceded just one goal.
For Paraná, being robbed at home also meant they lost its first 3 points in the tournament.
All the Goals from this Sunday:
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