Palmeiras achieved a valuable 2-2 draw this Sunday in their visit to Athletico Paranaense for the thirteenth day of the Brazilian Championship, in a match that involved a duel between the two biggest revelations in the country, the youth players Endrick and Vítor Roque, who scored a goal each.
The two players were the main protagonists of the match, with Endrick, the attacker already signed by Real Madrid, scoring a goal, crashing a ball into the post and wasting a penalty, and Vitor Roque, the striker who is in Barcelona's sights , adding a score and an assist to his record.
The draw allowed Palmeiras, the current Brazilian champion, to move up to fourth place in the standings, with 23 points, but ten points behind leader Botafogo, which this Sunday beat Vasco da Gama 2-0 in the Rio de Janeiro classic and kept isolated on top.
Despite the fact that Botafogo leads with a wide advantage after adding eleven victories in their thirteen games, Palmeiras was only three points behind Gremio (26), which is second, and only two behind Flamengo (25), the current champion of the Libertadores and which is third
Endrick started the game from the opening whistle because Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira decided to book several starters for Wednesday's match with Sao Paulo in the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals.
The Brazilian champion, for the same reason, played in Curitiba without Artur, Dudu and Raphael Veiga, three of his main stars, and only had Rony for a few minutes, who came on in the second half in Endrick's place and was injured .
Ferreira's decision, for the same reason, made the youth, who is expected by Real Madrid next year, the main figure of Palmeiras. But the attacker wasted a penalty in the first minutes, which he himself suffered, charging without force and leaving the ball in the hands of goalkeeper Léo Linck.
Endrick made up for the missed penalty soon after, when, in the 21st minute and after an exchange of passes with Breno Lopes, he opened the scoring by diving with his head inside the area to finish off an assist from the distance. Endrick had a chance to add to the score soon after but hit a ball against the post.
Palmeiras managed to increase the lead 11 minutes into the second half thanks to a shot from another youth player, Gabriel Menino, also after assistance from Breno Lopes.
But Paranaense strengthened their lead and went on the attack so as not to waste their local status and Vitor Bueno discounted in the 21st minute of the second half after scoring a penalty suffered precisely by Vitor Roque.
Five minutes into a play started by Vitor Bueno and Madson, Vitor Roque appeared free inside the area to tie the score with a header and leave the final score 2-2.
The youth wanted by Barcelona almost got the comeback ten minutes later after stealing a ball in the center of the field and advancing to the entrance of the area, but slipped when he only needed to elude one of his markers.
Despite getting an away draw against one of the favorites and moving up to fourth place playing with substitutes, Palmeiras dropped another two points against the leaders and is now ten points behind Botafogo, which continued its unstoppable march.
Even with an interim manager, as Portugal's Luis Castro resigned on Friday to take over Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr and command famed compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, Botafogo easily beat Vasco da Gama 2-0 in the Rio de Janeiro derby of the journey.
Vasco, who returned to the first division this year but is already in the relegation zone, resisted during the first half, but in the second he allowed the leader to prevail with goals from Luis Henrique and Carlos Alberto.
In matches played on Saturday, Gremio won 2-1 on their difficult visit to Bahia and Flamengo defeated Fortaleza 2-0 at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro and remained in second and third place respectively.
Goals by Argentine Franco Cristaldo and Gustavo Martins allowed the Porto Alegre team to stay in second place, with 26 points and seven units behind Botafogo.
The 2-0 win at the Maracaná with goals from the Uruguayan Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Gabriel Barbosa 'Gabigol', guaranteed Flamengo in third place, with 35 points and eight units behind the leader.
