Palmeiras poor at home to Cerro Porteño, unbeaten run ends | OneFootball

Palmeiras were defeated 1-0 by Cerro Porteño on Wednesday night (20) at Allianz Parque, in the fifth round of the Libertadores group stage. Verdão saw their unbeaten home run of 31 matches and 17 this season come to an end. Vegetti scored for the visitors.

With the defeat, Palmeiras lost top spot in Libertadores Group F, which was taken over by Cerro. The Paraguayan side now has ten points, compared to Verdão’s eight. Sporting Cristal are third with six.

The final pass was missing

Palmeiras failed to turn their possession into truly clear-cut chances. The team controlled the match and spent plenty of time in the attacking half, but lacked quality in the final pass and struggled to put their forwards in ideal finishing positions.

In the few moments they did manage to threaten, they were stopped by goalkeeper Arias — denying Allan in the 25th and 38th minutes. The woodwork also played its part, keeping out Flaco López’s effort in the 30th minute. The draw ended up slipping away in bitter fashion.

Individually, Arthur and Allan had good performances and stood out as the clearest-minded players in attack. On the other hand, Arias and Flaco López were below expectations and produced very little.

Cerro Porteño, meanwhile, hardly threatened at all. The Paraguayan side adopted a reactive approach, waiting for Palmeiras mistakes to try to exploit counterattacks, but created very little throughout the match.

If you don’t take your chances, you concede

Cerro Porteño needed just two minutes to open the scoring in São Paulo. In a quick counterattack, Jonatán Torres found himself free through the middle and played Fabricio Domínguez down the right. The full-back delivered a perfect cross for the striker to finish into the net and put the Paraguayans ahead.

The goal shook Palmeiras, who struggled in the following minutes. In the 11th minute, Cerro threatened again and nearly doubled the lead. The green-and-white side only managed to respond after the hydration break, in the 23rd minute.

From then on, Palmeiras became more dangerous, mainly through Arias. In the 27th minute, the attacker reached the byline and whipped in a dangerous cross. The ball looped over the goalkeeper, hit the crossbar and went out. The best chance, however, came in the 35th minute. Arias floated in a perfect ball for Flaco López, who arrived completely unmarked but headed against the crossbar and wasted the chance to equalize.

In the final minutes, Verdão threw themselves forward but did little. Final score: 1-0.

What now?

With the defeat, Palmeiras lost top spot in Libertadores Group F, which was taken over by Cerro. The Paraguayan side now has ten points, compared to Verdão’s eight. Sporting Cristal are third with six.

Palmeiras qualify for the Libertadores round of 16 with one match to spare. In the final round of the group stage, Abel Ferreira’s side will try to confirm first place. At the moment, the team lead with 11 points from five matches — three wins and two draws.

Palmeiras’ next Libertadores match is next Thursday (28), against Junior, again in São Paulo, in the sixth and final round of the Libertadores. A win secures the team a place in the round of 16.

Before that, the team face Flamengo on Saturday (23) at 9 p.m. (Brasília time) in the 17th round of the Brazilian Championship.

Match details

Palmeiras 0-1 Cerro Porteño

Venue: Allianz Parque Stadium, in São Paulo-SP Date and time: May 20, 2025, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time)Referee: Yael Falcon Perez (ARG)Assistants: Cristian Navarro (ARG) and Facundo Rodriguez (ARG)VAR: Hector Paleta (ARG)Yellow cards: Arthur, Andreas Pereira and Gustavo Gómez (PAL); Piris da Motta, Morel, Benitez (CER). Goals: Vegetti (0-1, 2' 2nd half)

PALMEIRAS: Carlos Miguel; Giay (Maurício, 15' 2nd half), Gustavo Gomez, Bruno Fuchs and Arthur; Emiliano Martinez (Paulinho, 25' 2nd half), Marlon Freitas and Andreas Pereira (Lucas Evangelista, 40' 2nd half); Allan (Luighi, 40' 2nd half) and Jhon Arias; Flaco López. Coach: Abel Ferreira.

CERRO PORTEÑO: Arias; Domínguez, Velázquez, Pérez and Chaparro (Benitez, at halftime); Piris da Motta, Morel and Klimowicz (Bobadilha, 17' 2nd half); Noguera (Torres, at halftime), Domínguez (Iturbe, 28' 2nd half) and Vegetti. Coach: Ariel Holan.

Palmeiras’ upcoming matches

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