Palmeiras lack spark, suffer deserved defeat to Mirassol | OneFootball

By Thais Bueno

Palmeiras had a night lacking in both offensive and defensive inspiration and deservedly lost to Mirassol, 2-1, last Sunday. Verdão was far from repeating the performance shown previously and disappointed at the José Maria de Campos Maia Stadium. The team also saw its advantage over Flamengo collapse at the end of the 33rd round of the Brazilian Championship.

Coach Abel Ferreira kept the core of the lineup and made a few targeted changes to the starting eleven. Murilo reclaimed his spot in defense, as did Felipe Anderson in attack and Aníbal Moreno in midfield. The main novelty was Allan starting after the Libertadores semifinal.

Palmeiras encountered clear difficulties at the start of the match at Campos Maia Stadium and had to rethink its strategy after conceding a lightning-fast goal. Lucas Ramon got past Felipe Anderson and Verdão’s marking gave Gabriel all the space to control and finish, beating Carlos Miguel. For a team that always comes in so focused, the alviverde’s attitude was out of the ordinary.

After conceding early, it was expected that Palmeiras would take a more aggressive stance in search of an equalizer, which didn’t happen in the first 25 minutes—mainly due to Mirassol’s tactical understanding, as they controlled possession and defended well, effectively nullifying Verdão’s attackers.

However, Alviverde managed to level the score from a set piece. After a corner kick, Walter came off his line and punched the ball away. Allan headed it from the edge of the box and the ball remained alive in the area. Vitor Roque pulled off a bicycle kick and scored a beautiful goal, tying the game for Verdão.

Deservedly, Verdão fell behind again in stoppage time and went into the break at a disadvantage. Reinaldo threw a long throw-in into the area and Palmeiras’ defense watched as João Victor rose unmarked in the middle of the box and headed it into the back of the net. Another defensive lapse from the visiting team in the match.

Palmeiras displayed poor football in the first half. The team struggled defensively and gave up clear chances to Mirassol—only avoiding more goals thanks to two great saves by Carlos Miguel. The alviverde side allowed the home team to play and barely reached the attacking third, putting in a very lackluster performance in the opening period.

Second half

Palmeiras returned for the second half with two changes from Abel: Bruno Fuchs came on for Murilo, who had been underperforming defensively. In attack, Sosa took the spot initially held by Felipe Anderson, as the number 7 was extremely quiet in the game. Additionally, Allan started playing more centrally. With this, Verdão began to show a bit more aggression in attack.

Even so, Palmeiras lacked inspiration and fell short in the creative sector. To try to solve the problem, Abel made the team more offensive, taking off a defensive midfielder and a fullback to bring on two more creative midfielders: Aníbal Moreno and Khellven made way for Veiga and Mauricio. The system switched to three center-backs, with Allan and Mauricio as wing-backs.

The coach’s changes, however, did not have much effect. Up to the 35th minute of the second half, Verdão had more possession, but still lacked creativity. The team’s main plays were reduced to crosses into the box, but Flaco López was not inspired. Defensively, the team suffered less, mainly due to Mirassol’s lower attacking volume.

Overall, Palmeiras was unrecognizable and deserved to lose to Mirassol, who is increasingly proving its credentials in Série A. Verdão will now have to pick up the pieces before facing Santos in the derby scheduled for this weekend.

Standings

With this result, Palmeiras remained at the top of the Brazilian Championship, but saw Flamengo draw level on points. Verdão has 68 points and stays on top due to tiebreaker criteria—having one more win than Rubro-Negro, who beat Santos 3-2 in the round.

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