After 987 minutes, something different

By: Bruno Romani | September 16th, 2007

Everything remains the same in the Campeonato Brasileiro. Or almost.

Many derbies were played on the weekend. Despite the thrilling performance, Atlético-MG did not resist and lost against Cruzeiro in a 4-3 derby. Roni scored twice and kept Cruzeiro still 9 points behind the leader São Paulo. Vasco and Flamengo tied in 1 goal at the Maracanã, and Leonardo Moura scored again for the home team. Flamengo still is close to relegation and Vasco still close to the top 4.

In Porto Alegre, Grêmio remained close to the top 4 as well by beating big rival Inter-RS. Léo, who was playing his first Gre-nal, with 12 minutes into the match scored the only goal of the match. The other club from Rio Grande do Sul, Juventude, was destroyed by Figueirense and remains on its way to série B.

Palmeiras visited Atlético-PR and lost again. The alviverde traditionally loses when visits Atlético. The 2-1 let Palmeiras rivals in the fight for a Libertadores spot to get closer, and Atlético sent Paraná to the relegation zone. The highlight of the afternoon was when Palmeira’s Gustavo, when fighting for the ball, hit Atlético’s Ferreira in the head. The forward fainted and was taken to the hospital, where he is to stay until Monday. As of Sunday night, nothing more serious was reported.

Fluminense won against the dead América-RN by 2-0 and Naútico had a good performance once more playing away. The club from Recife still is on the relegation zone, but the 3-0 against Goiás gave some hope.

Botafogo visited Corinthians at the Pacaembu and defeated again, the third time this year, the locals. Dodô, who scored the 300th goal of his career, scored the only one of the match. Botafogo is back to the top 4 and Corinthians sees the relegation zone close again. Sport got a 3-1 at home against Paraná and sent it to the relegation zone for the first time. The situation for the club of the league’s top striker, Josiel, is very difficult.

Finally, São Paulo won again. This time in the derby against santos. They’re still the leaders, way ahead of Cruzeiro. Anything new? Yes. After 987 minutes, the defense of the tricolor allowed a goal. A fact more discussd in the Brazilian press than the victory itself. Rodrigo Tabatá scored in the stoppage time in the second-half, sealing the final-score in 2-1 for the tricolor. This means that Rogério Ceni is the third keeper in the ranking of the keepers who remained more time without conceding a goal in the history of the Campeonato Brasileiro. Still, São Paulo’s defense allowed only 8 goals in 26 matches.

The goals:

http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Esportes/0,,GIM731685-7824-ASSISTA+AOS+GOLS+DA+RODADA+DO+BRASILEIRAO,00.html