El Palmeiras saves itself ‘in extremis’

The palm treeslast champion of the Liberators cupgot this Wednesday a draw in extremis against Athletico Paranaense (2-2) in the first leg of the South American Recopawhich will be decided next week at the Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo.

Raphael Veiga converted a penalty in the 97th minute for the São Paulo team, which was twice down on the scoreboard, in a very close final between Brazilians and in which the goalkeepers of both teams shone.

The tie frustrated the dream debut of Brazilian striker Marlos, who, after a decade in Ukraine, came off the bench to score in the 76th minute what would be 2-1 for Paranaense, winner of the last Copa Sudamericana.

Before, the Uruguayan attacker David Terans surprised Palmeiras with the first goal of the night from a corner, although the team led by the Portuguese Abel Ferreira reacted instantly and equalized through midfielder Jailson.

Paranaense did not feel too much their lack of shooting at this start of the season against a Palmeiras that has just played the FIFA Club World Cup and is fully involved in the Paulista Championship.

The second leg of this final between the two Conmebol continental champions will be held on Wednesday of next week at the Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo.

Neither Paranaense nor Palmeiras know what it means to win a Recopa Sudamericana. The green team lost, in fact, the final last year against the Argentine Defense and Justice.

Ferreira decided to populate the center of the field to stifle a Paranaense who jumped onto the pitch rather meekly, despite playing in front of his fans, and, to make up for the loss of his starting defenders, he opted for Murilo and the Chilean Kuscevic.

The Sao Paulo team triangulated better during the first minutes, with Jailson more aggressive and the Colombian Eduard Atuesta appearing between the lines with ease.

The hierarchy of Palmeiras seemed enough to control the duel. But it was Alberto Valentim’s team that found oil first, in a corner deflected midway and finished off at the back of the net by Terans in the 19th minute.

At first it was annulled by the line judge for offside, but after several minutes, the VAR ratified the advantage of the premises.

The reaction of the São Paulo team was automatic. He put sixth gear and equalized in the blink of an eye, also in a corner kick with some luck, because a semi-miss shot by Dudú ended up in the boots of Jailson, who did not waste the gift. It was minute 28.

With everything the same again, the script of the first minutes was returned: with a Palmeiras trying to impose themselves and a Paranaense dedicated to giving sporadic scares.

The most intense was a portentous header from Thiago Heleno. The captain of the ‘Huracán de Curitiba’ appeared in the area, alone, free, but his shot went high by a little.

Ferreira’s men did not sit idly by and Rony fired a long-distance shot that crashed into the post, after a slight and miraculous touch from Santos.

The Portuguese coach did not like what he saw at the beginning of the second half because he immediately moved the bench with three changes until the 71st minute.

Valentim, also dissatisfied, made Marlos debut, back in Brazil after a decade, first at Metalist and then at Shakhtar Donetsk.

The attacker scored a beautiful goal for the top corner between three Palmeiras players. But when it seemed that Paranaense had the victory in their pocket, an unfortunate penalty against Wesley left everything the same for Palmeiras, who will now play for the title at home.

DATASHEET

Palmeiras-Paranaense 2-2

2 – Athletico Paranaense: Saints; Marcinho, Pedro Henrique, Thiago Heleno, Abner (d.89 Nicolás Hernández); Hugo Moura (d.71 Christian), Erick (d.89 Zé Ivaldo), Matheus Fernandes, Léo Cittadini; David Terans (m.67 Marlos) and Rómulo.
Coach: Alberto Valentim
2 – Palm trees: Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Benjamín Kuscevic, Murilo Cerqueira, Joaquín Piquerez; Danilo, Jailson (d.71 Zé Rafael), Eduard Andrés Atuesta (d.57 Wesley), Raphael Veiga; Dudú (d.71 Gabriel Veron) and Rony (d.83 Rafael Navarro).
Coach: Abel Ferreira
Goals: 1-0, Terans (m. 19); 1-1, Jailson (d. 28); 2-1, Marlos (m. 76) 2-2, Vega (m. 97)
Referee: The Argentine Facundo Tello admonished Heleno, Erick and Hernández.
Incidents: first leg of the Recopa Sudamericana played at the Arena da Baixada, in the Brazilian city of Curitiba (south). There was a minute of silence for the victims of covid-19.