Can Cruzeiro Stop São Paulo?

By: Bruno Romani | September 23rd, 2007

Another round out of São Paulo’s way to the Brazilian title. Can anybody stop them? Nine points ahead of the club in second with just 11 matches to go, best defense, 8 goals allowed in 27 matches, young talents, such as Hernanes and Breno, an experienced keeper, and now an attack that works. Figueirense visited the tricolor at Morumbi and in half hour the game was over. Alex Silva, with a header, and Leandro, showing off some flair, killed the match. The other 60 minutes was a simple training session in front of 40 thousand fans.

The only club still fighting São Paulo is Cruzeiro. The raposa (fox) took part on the best match of the weekend against Vasco in São Januário. Both clubs missed incredible chances, the ball hit the post in a number of occasions, both goalies, especially Cruzeiro’s Fábio, worked a lot. Vasco fans started to protest against coach Celso Roth, making the local players nervous. In the end, Cruzeiro pocketed the 3 points with a 2-0 victory with goals by Ramires and defender Thiago Martinelli. Cruzeiro’s main man, however is Guilherme. The kid is playing fine football. With nine points behind São Paulo, can Cruzeiro stop the leader?

Libertadores

Vasco lost a few positions in the fight for a Libertadores spot. Only the first 4 clubs qualify to next year’s continental tournament. Considering that São Paulo and Cruzeiro are already qualified, there are only 2 spots for 7 clubs. From the third club Grêmio to the eighth, Inter, the different is just 8 points. Fluminense is in fifth but it is already qualified to next year’s tournament because of Copa do Brasil’s title they hold.

Grêmio reached the third place by beating Santos in Porto Alegre with a free-kick taken by striker Marcel. Luxemburgo’s team, on the other hand, goes down and remains unsure about the qualification to the Libertadores. Inter could have been in a much better situation if they didn’t let Atlético-MG tie a match that saw Inter getting a 2-0 lead, goals by Gil and Fernandão. Atlético, on the other hand, cries about another missed penalty that cost them 2 points. Renan denied Marinho in the first-half.

Derbies

The different derbies played this weekend touched all parts of the table. In São Paulo, Palmeiras and Corinthians played the most traditional paulista match. The former a vigorous Libertadores contender. The latter closer to relegation. Palmeiras had more ball possession, and created almost all the chances in the match. In the end, the 1-0 score wasn’t larger because the only good talented player from Corinthians is goal-keeper Felipe. He is someone to watch. The situation for Corinthians is depressing. No president, no coach, no players, no money. Now they’re back to the relegation zone.

In Rio, the derby was Botafogo and Fluminense. The once favorite Botafogo saw in 4 minutes Fluminense score the first in an own goal. The second came still in the first-half in a beautiful shot by Davi, one of the best goals of the round. Botafogo went down a little more. Now, the club seats just in the 7th spot and sees even the chances of advancing to the Copa Libertadores shrink.

In Curitiba, the derby involving Paraná and Atlético-PR was going to define who was going to leave the relegation zone. The afternoon belonged to one single character, Paraná’s Neguette. First, he deflected the ball that resulted in the first goal of Atlético-PR. 2 minutes later, with a header, he tied the match. Finally, in the 32nd mark, he lost the ball to Ferreira, who passed it to Marcelo Ramos to seal the match. Paraná remains in the relegation zone as its rival moves up.

In Recife, Naútico played its life in the derby against Sport. Julio César scored the two goals that for now put the timbu outside the relegation zone.

Relegation Zone

It’s obvious that América-RN is already gone. But it seems that it wants to bring a friend. Goiás has been falling in the last couple of rounds, and this weekend it managed to tie at home with a club that got only 12 points in 27 matches. Goiás should watch out.

Juventude is the other club that seems to have confirmed its ticket to série B. In other occasions a 2-2 with Flamengo would not have been bad. But considering the clubs situation and that Flamengo is a direct rival in this fight, the draw cannot be celebrated. Leonardo Moura scored again for the Fla.

goals:

http://video.globo.com/Videos/Player/Esportes/0,,GIM734339-7824-ASSISTA+AOS+GOLS+DA+RODADA+DO+BRASILEIRAO,00.html