Even without a number of their key players, Palmeiras were fully superior and won Delfín by 3-1 late on Wednesday in Manta, Ecuador, for the first leg of the round of16 of the Copa Libertadores.
Verdão guaranteed a big result away from home and have one foot on a spot in the quarterfinals of the South American tournament.
Gabriel Menino, Rony via a penalty and Zé Rafael scored the goals in the debut of coach Abel Ferreira in the Libertadores tournament.
Asides his goal, Roni was the one who made assists for the other two. Ramires scored an unfortunate own-goal that reduced the deficit for Delfin.
Palmeiras can be proud of the fact that despite missing 11 players due to covid-19, they were mostly dominant and only really got troubled in the early stages of the second half. With possible players making a comeback in the return leg, Palmeiras gets even stronger at home.
Palmeiras and Delfín will face each other next Wednesday at Allianz Parque. Verdão can draw or even lose by one goal difference to qualify. Delfín need three goals (or two, as long as they win by a score greater than 4-2) to advance in normal time. This is because goals scored away from home are a tiebreaker criterion in the competition. A 3-1 win for Delfin will take the game to penalties.
Before the duel back against Delfín, Palmeiras will host Athletico-PR on Saturday at Allianz Parque for the 23rd round of the Brazilian Championship.
