Early goal lifts Palmeiras, rivals stumble in title chase | OneFootball

By Victória Romanelli

Palmeiras defeated Vasco convincingly this Wednesday in the 26th round of the Brazilian Championship and took over second place. The 3-0 victory, with goals from Flaco López (twice) and Vitor Roque, at Allianz Parque, left Abel Ferreira’s team just two points behind Flamengo, who lead the tournament.

After doing their homework, Verdão now roots against Flamengo and Cruzeiro, who face each other this Thursday at Maracanã. Mathematically, a draw would be best for Alviverde. If Flamengo wins, they keep a five-point lead at the top. If Cruzeiro comes out on top, they knock Verdão out of second place.

However, after Cruzeiro vs Flamengo is over, Palmeiras will still have two games in hand over Raposa and one over Rubro-Negro.

Palmeiras takes the field with a forced change and gets results

Before kickoff, all eyes were on who Abel Ferreira would choose to replace the injured Lucas Evangelista. The coach decided to stick with the tactical scheme and moved Andreas Pereira back to fill the number 30’s spot. With an open spot, Raphael Veiga was chosen to start. Although he didn’t have an outstanding performance, he was solid and even provided the assist for the game’s first goal.

The coach will have a run of matches ahead to redefine his ideal team and knows he has the pieces to do so.

Flaco-Roque duo shines and settles it early

Palmeiras needed to bounce back after the loss to Bahia, which ended an 11-game unbeaten streak this season. On the other side, Vasco was unbeaten in seven games and had beaten then-second-place Cruzeiro in the previous round.

But Palmeiras gave no chance to Cruzmaltino and killed the game before the 30th minute of the first half. Lethal in attack, they opened the scoring at six minutes with Flaco López. About ten minutes later, the Argentine took advantage of a defensive blunder by Vasco and scored again. At 23 minutes, he provided the assist for Vitor Roque’s goal, who was sent through on goal behind the rival defense. Léo Jardim could do nothing.

Given the pace, it seemed the scoreline would be even bigger, but Palmeiras managed the game, especially in the second half. They even created more chances to score but couldn’t convert. Abel took the opportunity to make changes and rest key players to avoid risks before the Choque-Rei. Vasco had a few scares, but Weverton made good saves on shots from Andrés Gómez and Coutinho.

Situation in the Brazilian Championship

With the win over Vasco, Palmeiras took over second place with 52 points. Alviverde will sleep in second position since Cruzeiro, who have 50, still play this Thursday against leaders Flamengo at Maracanã. Verdão is rooting against their rivals to stay in second and close the gap to the top.

Palmeiras’ next match

Match: São Paulo vs Palmeiras Competition: Brazilian Championship (27th round) Date and time: October 5, 2025 (Sunday), at 4:00 PM (Brasília time) Venue: Morumbis, São Paulo (SP)

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