Botafogo defeated Palmeiras 1-0 at home to climb to the top of the Brasileirão table alone. The match, marked by the strong dispute between the directors of both clubs, was the highlight of the 17th round, which had two postponed clashes due to the commitments of the teams disputing the Copa Sudamericana playoffs.
At the Nilton Santos stadium, Fogão took the victory with Tiquinho Soares’ goal in the 56th minute. It was an electrifying match in which there were no more goals due to the good performance of the goalkeepers.
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The team led by Portuguese Artur Jorge leads with 36 points, while those of his compatriot Abel Ferreira, who had the expected debut of Felipe Anderson, remained second three units behind. That runner-up position could be taken by Flamengo if they win the match with Internacional, which was suspended due to the international commitment of the Porto Alegre team.
São Paulo, after taking advantage of Grêmio’s bad moment and defeating them 1-0 at Morumbi through Lucas Moura’s goal in the 10th minute, approached those top spots in the table. The São Paulo team is fourth, six points behind Botafogo, while the Gauchos have accumulated three consecutive defeats and remain in relegation positions.
Corinthians also remains in that relegation zone, although more relieved after beating Criciúma 2-1 in Ramón Díaz’s debut as coach. Fluminense remains in last place, but did not play their match against Athletico Paranaense, who played in the Sudamericana.
Vasco da Gama, a team that has collected its fourth consecutive victory, is now far from the bottom of the table. Their latest victim was Atlético Goianiense, second-to-last in the tournament, whom they defeated 1-0 away.
Fortaleza is also on a roll: they have won three games in a row. They authoritatively beat Vitória 3-1, are seven units behind the leader, and dream of fighting well at the top.
A dream that, on the contrary, is fading for Atlético Mineiro, who did not go beyond a 1-1 draw in their visit to Juventude. At the home team, Roger Machado left the coaching position to presumably take over the reins of Internacional after the departure of Eduardo Coudet.
