Atlético Mineiro, the isolated leader of the Brazilian Championship, beat Internacional 1-0 this Saturday, with a goal scored by Keno thirteen minutes from the end of the game, and further isolated himself at the top of the league standings in Brazil.
The Belo Horizonte club now has 49 points in 22 games and took an advantage of eleven whole to Palmeiras (38), the second in the classification and that on Sunday he is forced to beat Juventude at home so as not to lose the rhythm of the leader.
The difficult victory at home helped improve the spirits among those led by coach Alexi Stival “Cuca” after eThe bitter 1-1 draw that they gave up last Tuesday precisely against Palmeiras and that left them out of the final of the Copa Libertadores.
The Mineiro, who dreamed of the triple crown this year, will have to concentrate now on the Brazilian Championship and in the Copa do Brasil, of which he is one of the semifinalists, since the title of the Libertadores will be disputed by the also Brazilians Palmeiras and Flamengo.
This Saturday’s victory in a match for the twenty-third day of the Brazilian Championship occurred on the date that the stadiums reopened the door to the fans for League matches after more than a year closed due to the covid pandemic.
The authorization allowed 7,166 fans of the leader to attend his team’s victory at Mineirao.
With some of his players under medical care, including the Spanish-Brazilian Diego Costa, Mineiro had difficulties to beat Internacional at home and assisted the visitors to dominate the first half.
But in the second half, Cuca chose to send midfielder Keno and Venezuelan striker Jefferson Savarino to the field and the changes gave the leader another face. The scorer of the goal was precisely Keno after receiving an assist from the international Hulk, the team’s top scorer.
In another of the games this Saturday, Corinthians got a 2-2 draw in the final minutes on their visit to Bragantino after coming back from a 2-0 deficit that seemed to guarantee victory for the hosts.
The Bragantino, which this week qualified for the final of the Copa Sudamericana -the first final in a continental tournament in its 93-year history-, he won until the 44th minute of the second half with goals from Luan Cándido and Venezuelan Jan Hurtado.
But Renato Augusto, a Corinthian idol who returned to the club this year after several seasons abroad, managed to decrease shortly before the end of regulation time and Gustavo Mosquito equalized the score in the minutes of replacement.
With this result, Bragantino and Corinthians remain in fifth and sixth place of the classification, respectively, both with 34 points and thirteen units away from the leader Mineiro.
Also this saturday the humble Atlético Goianiense thrashed 0-3 in his visit to Fortaleza, the club led by Argentine coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda and who, as third in the standings, has become one of the surprises of the season.
The defeat left the Fortress stationed with 36 points and the possibility of being beaten on Sunday by Flamengo, the current Brazilian champion, who will host Athletico Paranaense at the Maracana.
The duel at the Maracana is one of the ones that generates the most expectations Because they will face Flamengo, who will face Palmeiras in November for the Libertadores title, and Paranaense, who will also face Bragantino in November for the South American final.
The twenty-third day will have another four games this Sunday and the other two will only be played on October 27 because Santos and Bahia requested their postponement to be able to play them when they can open the doors of their stadiums to the fans.
The remaining matches of the day are the following:
. Sunday October 3: Flamengo-Athletico Paranaense, Chapecoense-Sao Paulo, Palmeiras-Juventude and Grêmio-Sport.
. Wednesday October 27: Santos-Fluminense and Bahía-Ceará.