Palmeiras see off Ceará in Copa 🇧🇷 debut and take lead in third round | OneFootball

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

At Arena Castelão, Palmeiras defeated Ceará 1-0 this Wednesday (30th), in the first leg of the third round of the 2025 Copa do Brasil.

The match was hard-fought, especially in the first half, with four yellow cards and 18 fouls. In one of those plays, Estêvão crossed the ball into the box, and Gustavo Gómez (35') appeared between the defenders to head it firmly and open the scoring for Verdão.

The Paraguayan reached 39 goals (in 339 matches) and established himself as the highest-scoring defender in Palmeiras' history, extending his lead over the legendary Luiz Pereira (1968-1975 and 1981-1984), who scored 36 goals.

Still in the first half, Palmeiras had a chance to extend their lead with Felipe Anderson, but Fernando Miguel made an excellent save, even with the ball deflecting off the defense on its way.

Ceará came back stronger in the second half and had two great chances, but Weverton stopped them.

The Verdão goalkeeper saved a powerful shot from outside the box by Pedro Raul (5') and then blocked Galeano’s rebound attempt. For Verdão, the best opportunity fell to Paulinho (27'), but Fernando Miguel made a one-on-one save against the striker.

🚦 What’s next With the win

Palmeiras can even draw on May 22 at Allianz Parque and still qualify for the round of 16. Ceará will need to win by two goals to advance. If they win by one goal, the spot will be decided by penalties. Vozão returns to the field next Saturday (3rd), when they host Vitória at Estádio Presidente Vargas, for the seventh round of the Brasileirão.

Verdão, on the other hand, visits Vasco at São Januário on Sunday (4th), also for the national championship.

📸 Featured photo: Cesar Greco/Flickr Palmeiras