The Brasileirão resumed activity after two weeks of suspension due to the tragic floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In a round with goals in all the matches, Flamengo raised the average with a historic thrashing over Vasco da Gama, which also allowed them to reach the lead.
In the preview, the clash between Rio de Janeiro teams promised to be one of the most attractive in the resumption of the tournament and it did not disappoint. The match started well for Álvaro Pacheco in his debut as Vasco’s coach: at 9 minutes, Pablo Vegetti opened the scoring for the team that played at home at the Maracanã.
However, from the half-hour mark, the party started for Mengão to sign the biggest thrashing in history against their city rivals. Everton Cebolinha, Pedro, David Luiz, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Bruno Henrique and Gabigol, in his return to scoring after the questioning, sealed the 6-1.
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With the victory, Tite’s team, classified as second in the group to the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores, leads the table with 14 points. The same score has Bahia, who took a 1-1 draw from their visit to Atlético Mineiro: Hulk broke the parity in the result and Ademir equalized again with a great left-footed goal from outside the area.
The one who lost the opportunity to be the sole leader is Atlético Paranaense. The team led by Cuca remained on 11 points after losing away to Bahia thanks to a goal from Chilean Benjamín Kuscevic.
Meanwhile, São Paulo defeated Cruzeiro 2-0 at MorumBIS with goals from Lucas Moura and Jonathan Calleri, victim of a criminal kick from Marlon Xavier that left the Belo Horizonte team with one less player in the first half. Undefeated since Luis Zubeldía arrived, the São Paulo Tricolor is emerging as one of the protagonists of this Brasileirão.
Palmeiras, the current two-time champion, also has the obligation to be a protagonist, although it cost them a lot to beat Criciúma away from home. The winning goal in the 2-1 came at the last minute, scored by Lázaro, for the team that no longer has Endrick.
Bittersweet results for the Porto Alegre teams
Grêmio, who played at home in Curitiba due to the destruction of the floods in their stadium, lost 2-0 to Bragantino. With no time to reflect on that defeat, they will have to face Huachipato in Chile tomorrow in a key clash to define their continuity in the Copa Libertadores.
Meanwhile, Inter defeated Cuiabá 1-0 on their visit. A necessary victory after the tough loss to Belgrano (Argentina) in Brazil that left them in the playoff for the Copa Sudamericana.
Two big teams, close to the relegation zone
Corinthians are in 17th place, in the relegation zone, after losing in São Paulo against Botafogo. Júnior Santos scored the only goal of the match for the Carioca team, third in the standings.
Another big team not doing well is Fluminense. The current Copa Libertadores champion drew 1-1 against Juventude at the Maracanã and are in 15th place with only 6 points in seven games.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Watch the full series, available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel.
