Palmeiras edge River Plate in tough clash, reach Libertadores semis | OneFootball

Palmeiras is back in the semifinals of the Libertadores. The team beat River Plate 3-1, coming from behind, on Wednesday (24) at Allianz Parque and secured a spot among the top four teams in the continental competition. Vitor Roque and Flaco López, twice, scored the Palmeiras goals.

The team had already overcome the opponent 2-1 in Buenos Aires last week. With the new victory, Verdão remains undefeated in the Libertadores and advances with an aggregate score of 5-2.

Verdão now awaits the winner of São Paulo and LDU (EQU) to know its opponent in the next phase - the teams duel on Thursday (25). The Ecuadorians have the advantage after winning the first leg 2-0.

Advantage that lasted little

The advantage built by Palmeiras in Buenos Aires lasted only seven minutes at Allianz Parque. In one of River Plate's first arrivals, on a free kick from Quintero, Salas anticipated the defense and scored the opponent's goal.

Palmeiras tried a quick response, but was stopped by Armani twice. Four minutes after the goal, Andreas Pereira took a corner at the far post and Murilo headed down for a great save by the goalkeeper. On another occasion, Piquerez tried from afar and also stopped at the goalkeeper.

Despite having more of the ball, Verdão didn't know what to do with it and created little in the final half of the first half. Annoyed, the team started to fall into River's time-wasting and provocation.

In stoppage time, the opponent had a great chance to score the second with Castaño, who was face to face with Weverton, but was stopped by the number 21. 1-0 cheap at halftime.

It's Tigrinho

Palmeiras came back focused, doing what is expected of the team in big games. At five minutes, Vitor Roque took advantage of Piquerez's cross, and headed firmly, for a good save by Armani. On the rebound, he himself completed and tied at Allianz Parque - it was the return of the advantage in the aggregate score.

Soon after, the atmosphere heated up with a confusion that earned cards for Roque and Acuña. But River Plate showed that the game would not be easy: At 12, Salas received, cleared Murilo and shot shaving the post.

The game took on dramatic airs. With a lot of provocation and a refereeing that let the game go on beyond account, fouls took over the match, which stopped having a running game and started to have a lot of set pieces.

Despite slight pressure from River, with good arrivals from Miguel Borja, former Palmeiras striker, Abel Ferreira's team managed to withstand the pressure and take advantage of the opponent's mistakes to turn the game around. At 44, Facundo Torres was knocked down inside the area: Flaco López took the penalty and put the team ahead. At 47, Flaco shot over the top and extended the lead. 3-1 final score.

And now?

Palmeiras now awaits the winner of São Paulo and LDU (EQU) to know its opponent in the Libertadores semifinals. In the first game, played in Quito, Ecuador, victory for the home team by 2-0. The teams duel again on Thursday (25), at Morumbi.

The team returns to the field next Sunday (28) against Bahia, away from home, for the Brazilian Championship. The Green and White is in third place, with 49 points, behind Cruzeiro, with 50, and Flamengo, 51. However, the team has fewer matches than its rivals.

Technical Sheet

Palmeiras 3-1 River Plate (ARG)

Location: Allianz Parque, São Paulo (SP)Date and time: September 24, 2025, Wednesday, 9:30 pm (Brasília time)Referee: Andrés Matonte (URU)Assistants: Nicolas Tarán (URU) and Andrés Nievas (URU)VAR: Christian Ferreyra (URU)Yellow cards: Weverton, Vitor Roque and Bruno Fuchs (PAL); Portillo, Galoppo, Acuña, Sallas and Enzo Pérez (RIV)Red cards: Acuña (RIV)Goals: Salas (0-1, 8/1T); Vitor Roque (1-1, 5/2T); Flaco López (2-1, 45/2T), Flaco López (3-1, 47/2T)

PALMEIRAS: Weverton; Khellven, Gustavo Gómez (Bruno Fuchs, 14/2T), Murilo and Piquerez; Aníbal Moreno (Emi Martinez, 31/2T), Lucas Evangelista, Andreas Pereira (Facundo Torres, 31/2T) and Felipe Anderson (Allan, 46/2T); Flaco López and Vitor Roque (Raphael Veiga, 46/2T). Coach: Abel Ferreira

RIVER PLATE: Armani; Acuña, Martinez Quarta, Rivero and Montiel, Portillo (Enzo Pérez, 27/1T), Castaño and Galoppo (Borja, 24/2T); Quintero (Colidiio, 14/2T), Nacho Fernandéz (Lencina, 14/2T) and Salas. Coach: Marcelo Gallardo.

Next Palmeiras games

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