Palmeiras rally past River with Flaco double, reach Libertadores semi | OneFootball

Palmeiras secured a spot in the Libertadores semifinal this Wednesday by coming from behind to defeat River Plate 3-1 at Allianz Parque in the second leg of the quarterfinals. Salas opened the scoring for the Argentine team, while Vitor Roque and Flaco López (twice) scored for the home side. In the first leg, Abel Ferreira’s team won 2-1 and advances with a 5-2 aggregate score.

Palmeiras back in the semifinal

With this result, Verdão returns to the Libertadores semifinal after being eliminated in the round of 16 in 2024. This will be the fifth semifinal under Abel Ferreira’s management. With the Portuguese coach in charge, Verdão reached the semifinals in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

What’s next?

Now, they await the winner of LDU vs São Paulo, who face each other this Thursday at Morumbis. The Ecuadorian team won the first match 2-0. The semifinals are scheduled to take place between October 22 and 29.

📋 Match Summary

🟢 PALMEIRAS 3 x 1 RIVER PLATE 🔴

🏆 Competition: Libertadores quarterfinals (second leg) 🏟️ Venue: Allianz Parque, São Paulo (SP) 📅 Date: September 24, 2025 (Wednesday) ⏰ Time: 9:30 PM (Brasília time) 👥 Attendance: 40,893 fans 💰 Revenue: R$ 4,244,260.40 🟨 Yellow cards: Weverton, Vitor Roque, and Bruno Fuchs (Palmeiras); Portillo, Galoppo, Acuña, Salas, and Pérez (River Plate) 🟥 Red cards: João Martins (Palmeiras); Acuña (River Plate)

Refereeing

Referee: Andres Matonte (URU) Assistants: Nicolas Taran and Andres Nievas (URU) VAR: Christian Ferreyra (URU)

Goals

⚽ Salas, 7′ 1st half (River Plate) ⚽ Vitor Roque, 6′ 2nd half (Palmeiras) ⚽ Flaco López, 46′ and 48′ 2nd half (Palmeiras)

🟢 Palmeiras

Weverton; Khellven, Gustavo Gómez (Bruno Fuchs), Murilo, and Piquerez; Aníbal Moreno (Emiliano Martínez), Lucas Evangelista, Andreas Pereira (Facundo Torres), and Felipe Anderson (Allan); Flaco López and Vitor Roque (Raphael Veiga). Coach: Abel Ferreira

🔴 River Plate

Armani; Martínez Quarta, Juan Portillo (Pérez), Lautaro Rivero, and Gonzalo Montiel; Kevin Castaño, Acuña, Ignacio Fernández (Lencina), and Giuliano Galoppo (Borja); Juanfer Quintero (Colidio) and Maximiliano Salas. Coach: Marcelo Gallardo

Palmeiras vs River Plate: how was the match?

Palmeiras started the match already taking risks and had two shots on goal within two minutes. First, Piquerez shot from outside the box and forced Armani to make a save. Felipe Anderson picked up the rebound and passed to Vitor Roque, who shot first time and sent it close to the goal. At the seventh minute, River Plate took advantage of their first opportunity and opened the scoring. Salas capitalized on a free kick from Quinteros and headed firmly to beat Weverton.

Five minutes later, Murilo almost equalized with a header, but Armani made the save. At 17, Flaco tried from distance and sent a weak shot into Armani’s hands. Shortly after, Felipe Anderson also tried his luck but sent it wide. In stoppage time, River had a dangerous chance. Castaño went one-on-one with Weverton, who made a great save.

Palmeiras struck back at River Plate and equalized the match six minutes into the second half. Andreas Pereira took a corner, the ball fell to Piquerez, who crossed to Vitor Roque. The number 9 headed towards goal, Armani saved, but on the rebound, Tigrinho finished into the net. The match remained heated at Allianz Parque, and the players got into a scuffle on the sidelines after Vitor Roque and Acuña clashed.

After the restart, the Argentinians threatened with a shot from Salas. At 27, Weverton saved Verdão from conceding a goal to Borja. Shortly after, Piquerez took a direct free kick, Armani saved but spilled the ball, and Palmeiras nearly scored their second. At 41, Facundo Torres was played through in attack, entered the box, and won a penalty, which led to Acuña’s expulsion for a second yellow card. From the spot, at 46, Flaco López converted and put Palmeiras ahead. The Argentine still had time to score another beautiful goal, chipping Armani at 48.

Upcoming Matches

Palmeiras Match: Bahia vs Palmeiras Competition: Campeonato Brasileiro (25th round) Date and time: September 28, 4:00 PM (Brasília time) Venue: Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador (BA)

River Plate Match: River Plate vs Deportivo Riestra Competition: Argentine Championship (10th round) Date and time: September 28, 6:00 PM (Brasília time) Venue: Estadio Mâs Monumental, Buenos Aires (ARG)

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