Palmeiras beats Santos, reverses another final and is three times champion of São Paulo

Palmeiras did it again! After losing the first game of the Campeonato Paulista final for the third consecutive edition, Verdão was able to reverse the adverse result once again and, with this Sunday’s (7) victory over Santos 2-0, at Allianz Parque , won the third state championship.

Raphael Veiga, from a penalty kick, and Aníbal Moreno scored the goals of the Alviverde title. In the first clash, at Vila Belmiro, Peixe had won 1-0.

This is the second time in history that the club has won a third consecutive Paulistão championship. The first and only one until then had been in the 1930s, with the cups of 1932, 1933 and 1934, when Palmeiras was still called Palestra Itália.

To reach this sequence under the command of Abel Ferreira, the team needed to reverse the score in the three finals they played with the Portuguese coach. In 2022, they lost to São Paulo 3-1 in the first game, and thrashed 4-0 at Allianz Parque to become champion. Last year, they were defeated 2-1 by Água Santa, but again managed to win 4-0 at home to win their second title.

With Paulistão in 2024, Abel reaches ten titles at Verdão and equals Oswaldo Brandão as the coach with the most cups at the club.

In addition to the state triathlon, the Portuguese won: Libertadores (2020 and 2021), Copa do Brasil (2020), Recopa Sul-Americana (2022), Campeonato Brasileiro (2022 and 2023), Campeonato Paulista (2022 and 2023) and Supercopa do Brasil (2023).

The game

With the need to reverse Santos’ advantage, coach Abel Ferreira surprised Palmeiras’ lineup. In relation to the base starting team for the entire season, he promoted the entry of striker Lázaro.

Without the ball, the team remained in 4-4-2. With the ball, it passed to 3-5-2, with Piquerez becoming a third defender and leaving the attacking corridor on the left side for Lázaro.

Saints without Furch

Santos started the big decision without center forward Julio Furch, who recovered during the week from inflammation in his left hamstring and adductor. The striker was replaced by Morelos.

Even game at the beginning

Palmeiras started the match with possession of the ball. The team rotated the game from one side to the other, but found it difficult to unlock Santos’ well-established defensive scheme.

Peixe, by the way, had a clear proposal to close down and focus on quick attacks. In this scenario, he got his first chance to score with a shot from Diego Pituca, in the fifth minute.

Palmeiras responded with a shot from Mayke cut over the line by Gil, at nine.

VAR points penalty

The classic was balanced until VAR took action in the 27th minute. Raphael Claus was called to review a ball dispute between João Paulo and Endrick and saw that the Santos goalkeeper’s left knee touched the Palmeiras striker’s leg. Penalty scored.

Palmeiras takes the lead

The charge took five minutes to be executed, and was taken calmly by Raphael Veiga. The midfielder made Allianz Parque explode by becoming Palmeiras’ top scorer this century, with 89 goals scored.

In contrast to the alviverdes celebration, there was Peixe’s dissatisfaction when complaining about the penalty being awarded and also when pointing out that the ball from the goal shot taken by Weverton, which led to the play that ended in the penalty, was not stationary.

Verdão loses goals in succession

After taking the lead, the Alviverde team imposed itself on the match and created three clear scoring chances. The first of them was wasted by Lazarus. Then, in sequence, came a shot from Piquerez that was saved by João Paulo. In the corner, Gustavo Gómez headed dangerously.

Palmeiras only scored one goal in the first half, but could have scored more.

Second time at high voltage

Palmeiras and Santos returned from the break with a faster and more vertical game from both sides, and the chances to score came in sequence, but the shots were almost impossible.

In one of them, in the 12th minute, Mayke took a shot from Otero off the line.

Endrick almost

Freer on the field, Endrick began to articulate more plays on the right wing and also began to risk more shots. In one of them, he came very close to scoring, but the ball hit the net from the outside.

Aníbal Moreno does the second

Best on the field, Palmeiras scored the second goal in a beautiful collective effort. After Piquerez’s cross, Flaco López headed the ball and Aníbal Moreno headed it into the net. Allianz Parque exploded once again, 21 minutes into the final stage.

Palmeiras holds advantage

With the necessary score achieved, Palmeiras reduced the pace of the game and ended the match with their third championship, a feat that had only been achieved once in Alviverde history, exactly 90 years ago (1932 to 1934).

Palmeiras 2 x 0 Santos

Palm trees
Weverton; Mayke, Gustavo Gómez (Luan), Murilo and Piquerez; Aníbal Moreno, Zé Rafael (Richard Ríos), Endrick (Marcos Rocha), Raphael Veiga and Lázaro (Luis Guilherme); Flaco López (Ron). Coach: Abel Ferreira

Santos
João Paulo; Aderlan (JP Chermont), Joaquim, Gil and Felipe Jonatan (Hayner); João Schmidt, Diego Pituca and Giuliano; Otero (Pedrinho), Guilherme and Morelos (Furch). Coach: Fábio Carille

Goals: Raphael Veiga (32min1ºT) and Aníbal Moreno (21min2ºT), from Palmeira
Yellow cards: Endrick, Zé Rafael and Mayke (Palmeiras); Aderlan, Gil, Morelos (Santos)
Public: 41,446 people
Income: R$ 5,244,701.37
Reason: final of the Campeonato Paulista (return game)
Date and time: April 7, 2024, at 6 pm
Local: Allianz Parque, in São Paulo
Referee: Raphael Claus
Auxiliaries: Danilo Ricardo Simon Manis and Neuza Inês Back
Video referee: Rodrigo Guarizo Ferreira do Amaral

*With information from CNN Brasil

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