Fluminese (Taça Rio) and São Paulo (State Champions) both winners as the state championships enter there final stages.
Sunday saw 74,650 people fill the Maracanã for the 100th cup final of the ‘Taça Rio’ which was a classic derby between Fla and Flu. Fluminese went in to the final as clear favourites and didn’t disappoint. As the temperature hit 40 degrees the Fluminese team rasied their game to match. Tuta (penalty), Leandro, Alex and Preto Casagrande, all scoring in the 2nd half, with Zinho grabbing a late consolation goal for Flamengo. Six yellow cards were rasied by the referee Luiz Antonio Silva dos Santos. Fluminese will now face Volta Redonda in the state championship final.
In São Paulo, São Paulo finally secured the Campeonato Paulista title on Sunday after a 0-0 draw against 2nd placed Santos. The result left them nine points clear of closest rivals Santos and Corinthians with just two matches remaining. After their shock 2-1 defeat against Portuguesa on Thursday, Sunday’s journey to Santos provided Sao Paulo with another opportunity to clinch the Campeonato Paulista. In a relatively dull game neither side were capable of breaking the deadlock with both sides missing good chances. Grafite was a constant threat to the Santos goal but earned himself a red card in the dying moments of the match for a bad challenge on Avalos. Meaning he missed the São Paulo celebration’s as the whistle went.
Elsewhere Corinthian’s failed to score against Ituano, however the point did move them into joint second in the table. Palmeria’s could only get a draw at Ponte Preta after Alceu gave them a goal within 1 minute of the start. Roger equalised at the end of the first half.
Paulista State Championship
2nd April
União Barbarense 1 x 2 São Caetano
3rd April
América-SP 1 x 0 Guarani
Portuguesa 1 x 0 Mogi Mirim
Santo André 3 x 2 Atlético Sorocaba
Portuguesa Santista 0 x 1 União São João
Inter de Limeira 1 x 3 Rio Branco-SP
Marília 0 x 1 Paulista-SP
Santos 0 x 0 São Paulo (Champions)
Corinthians 0 x 0 Ituano
Ponte Preta 1 x 1 Palmeiras
Rio Cup Final
3rd April
Flamengo 1 x 4 Fluminense
