Analysis: Palmeiras waste red-card edge, lack of ideas costs derby | OneFootball

Palmeiras dropped two important points on Sunday night in the derby against Corinthians at Neo Química Arena in São Paulo (SP). The green-and-white side failed to make the most of Timão’s two red cards and, even playing with a two-man advantage, could not break through the defense and left with a bitter 0-0 draw.

The teams played out a first half with few clear chances. Naturally, Corinthians had more possession for most of the opening period, although they could not turn it into opportunities. However, that changed in the 34th minute, when André was sent off for making an obscene gesture toward Andreas Pereira.

From then on, Verdão had more of the ball, but was still ineffective. The team, led on the night by assistant coach João Martins in place of the suspended Abel Ferreira, began to spend more time in the attacking half, but lacked the creativity and variation needed to unlock Corinthians’ defense.

The second half was more dangerous, and Palmeiras nearly opened the scoring in the 20th minute through Allan for Verdão. He sent a dangerous ball into the box and, if not for a miracle save by Hugo Souza, Gabriel Paulista would have scored an own goal. Shortly afterward, Corinthians lost another player. This time it was Matheuzinho, for punching Flaco López in the face.

It was then expected that the visitors would take advantage of the moment and start to dominate the game. But that was not quite what happened. Palmeiras kept possession and created more, but did not completely shut down the opponent’s chances. After a misplaced pass in attack, Yuri Alberto was played through one-on-one, and Carlos Miguel came up with a huge save. Flaco López and Andreas tried their luck, but the Corinthians goalkeeper also stood out.

Just controlling the game was not enough. And now, with important matches ahead, Palmeiras is working to improve the team’s cutting edge to kill off games when necessary. The draw in the Derby does not hurt the campaign, but it does raise a warning sign.

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Palmeiras’ situation

Palmeiras therefore let two points slip away through inefficiency, points that could have put the team eight points clear of second-placed Flamengo at the top of the table. With the draw in the derby, Palmeiras remains in first place with 26 points, six ahead of the runner-up. The team now turns its focus to the Copa Libertadores.

Palmeiras’ next match

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