Palmeiras v Guarani: referee explains coaches’ red cards in match report

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·16. Februar 2026

Palmeiras v Guarani: referee explains coaches’ red cards in match report

Palmeiras and Guarani drew 1 to 1 on the evening of last Sunday in a match valid for the eighth round of the group stage of the Campeonato Paulista. In stoppage time, tensions rose between the coaches, and the referee expelled João Martins, who led the Palmeiras team in place of Abel Ferreira, and Matheus Costa, coach of Guarani.

In the match report, João Vitor Gobi revealed the reason for the red cards. After the match, during his press conference, João Martins apologized for the situation and gave his version of the events. The referee confirmed that the Palmeiras assistant was confronted by the Bugre's coach.

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João Martins, therefore, is suspended for the quarter-final match of the Paulista. Meanwhile, Abel Ferreira returns from suspension for the first knockout game of the State Championship.

See what the match report says:

Reason for João Martins' expulsion

"After being informed by the assistant referee Mr. Daniel Luis Marques, I expelled at 90 + 7 the assistant coach Mr. João Miguel Barreto Martins, for, after being confronted by the coach of the Guarani team, he responded: 'Is that for me? Are you crazy? Go f... yourself, go to hell!', and also left his technical area, walking towards the coach, putting himself in a confrontational tone, only not succeeding because both were restrained by the refereeing team and other members of the technical staff. I also inform that after the expulsion, on the way down the tunnel, they again put themselves in a confrontational tone, having to be restrained by security," justified the referee about João Martins' expulsion.

Reason for Matheus Costa's expulsion

"After being informed by the assistant referee Mr. Daniel Luis Marques, I expelled at 90 + 7, the coach of the Guarani F.C. team, Mr. Matheus Silva Ferreira da Costa, for leaving his technical area and going towards the opponent's substitutes' bench shouting the following words at the assistant coach of the S.E. Palmeiras team, Mr. João Miguel Barreto Martins: 'go to hell! give the ball back, coward! go f... yourself!', putting himself in a confrontational tone, only not succeeding because both were restrained by the refereeing team and other members of the technical staff. I also inform that after the expulsion, on the way down the tunnel, they again put themselves in a confrontational tone, having to be restrained by security," wrote Gobi about Matheus Costa's red card.

Game situation

With the draw, Palmeiras confirmed the second place in the Paulista and advanced to the quarter-finals with 16 points, narrowly missing the lead. On the other hand, Guarani was eliminated and bid farewell to the State Championship. Now, Palmeiras faces Capivariano in the next phase.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.