Palmeiras weather storm, take lessons into Libertadores decider | OneFootball

By Victória Romanelli

Palmeiras took the lead in the quarter-final decision of the Copa Libertadores. On Wednesday night, Verdão beat River Plate, by 2 to 1, at the Mâs Monumental Stadium, in Buenos Aires, and brought back to São Paulo an important result in the "decision".

The team led by coach Abel Ferreira could have had an even more imposing victory given their first-half performance. From early on, Verdão managed to have the ball and involved River Plate, creating a tense atmosphere for the more than 80,000 fans present at the stadium.

Palmeiras opens a good lead, but gets a scare

The first half was practically a re-edition of the initial stage of the thrashing over Internacional. Palmeiras had the ball actions, knew what to do with it and was effective in the plays. The set piece was an ally of Andreas Pereira, who made his professional debut and assisted Gustavo Gómez to score with his head, at five minutes.

By a whisker, in another charge by the number 8, Evangelista didn't score his: he hit the post. Andreas also had a dangerous free kick. The player, recently arrived from Fulham, will give Abel a good headache in the midfield sector, being able to be lined up as a marker or as a playmaker, as was the case. And it worked.

The duo Flaco López and Vitor Roque also did not go unnoticed. At 40 minutes, the Argentine found a good pass for number 9, who turned on the mark and faced the goal. He shot past Armani and made Verdão go with a 2-0 lead to the break. But those who thought the game was settled were mistaken.

Unhappy with the result, River Plate came back more incisive for the final stage, managing to occupy more spaces in the attack and pressured Palmeiras, who was holding well the Argentine's advances and managing the score. Closer to the last minutes, the Argentines seemed to gain even more strength and began to suffocate Verdão, who held on as best they could. At 39, they conceded a goal from outside the box by Martínez Quarta, with a deflection off Emiliano Martínez.

Palmeiras, which, at that moment, could even have a wider score, suffered, but managed to hold the rival, starring in a game worthy of Copa Libertadores. Abel Ferreira's team leaves Argentina with a first goal achieved and lessons learned for the second match, which will be played at Allianz Parque, next Wednesday, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time).

Next Palmeiras games

The delegation will have a few more days to analyze in which points it was "surprised" by the changes of River Plate in the second stage and find the best solutions for the return match. Before that, however, the focus returns to the Brasileiro to face Fortaleza, for the 24th round, at 9 pm, at Allianz Parque.

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