Palmeiras defeated Defensa y Justicia 2-1 and gained advantage in the match up for the Recopa Sul –Americana. It was a contest between the champions of the Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana.
Rony opened the scoring for the visitors in the 16th minute via good fashion, after an audacious pass from Willian. Defensa were unmoved by going behind so early in game and took many courageous steps to get their equalizer. With Palmeiras steady in defence, the hosts were unable to get the ball past Weverton.
However, thirteen minutes into the second period, Romero drew level after a square ball by Bou, giving Weverton no chance.
Abel Ferreira made several changes after the goal, which eventually paid off. With the introduction of Gustavo Scarpa, Danilo and several others, the tempo of the game changed.
Gustavo Scarpa took advantage of Defensa’s poor defending in the 75th minutes, and put the visitors back in the lead.
Braian Romero came close to equalizing minutes later, before Bou who assisted the home side, had his goal disallowed for offside. At the end, Verdão were able to hold on to their lead.
Speaking after the game, Palmeiras star Scarpa was pleased to see his side put one foot on another title.
He said: “For us it is very significant, it is a title that the club does not have, it is the chance to mark our name in history. We are going in search of that, Wednesday will be a difficult game, but we are going in search of continuing to put our name in history. Their team is very good, defensively and offensively, we have to be careful, but we need to impose more of our pace of play.
Palmeiras’ next game will be on Sunday in an early fixture for the Brazil Super Cup against Flamengo, a fixture between the champions of the Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Brasileirão.
