Palmeiras 2×3 Fluminense

Flu champions, Palmeiras (almost) relegated

Fluminense clinched a thrilling late victory in the torrid Presidente Prudente sun to seal their fourth national championship trophy. With three rounds still to play in the Campeonato Brasileiro 2012, the Tricolor knew that a win against Palmeiras and a home win or draw in the Vasco x Atlético-MG match (which ended 1-1) would see them create an insurmountable lead over the chasing pack.

Palmeiras, on the other hand, are battling against a seemingly inevitable relegation, and had other results in the round gone against them they could have been condemned to Série B earlier than expected. Fortunately for them, Portuguesa and Bahia lost their respective matches, keeping Palmeiras’ hopes alive (albeit hanging by the tiniest of threads) even after their latest defeat.

Fluminense took a 2-0 lead, but conceded twice through set-pieces in the second half. Just as the title champagne was being put on ice for another day, league top scorer Fred converted his 19^th goal of the season to win the match 3-2.

Game of the Week: Flamengo 3×2 Fluminense

Game of the Week returns today with ANOTHER five-goal thriller in the Campeonato Brasileiro 2011. We were really spoiled for choice this week in South America, in Brazil alone we had a bizarre 3×3 between Cruzeiro and Santos, Botafogo and Bahia drew 2×2, and leaders Vasco were humbled 3×0 away to Internacional. In Argentina, the clásico de Avellaneda finished 1×1 between Racing and Independiente, and we had some fascinating World Cup qualifiers to keep us busy on Friday. This week however, our attention turns to another riveting edition of the Flamengo x Fluminense derby in Rio de Janeiro.

Game of the Week: Fluminense 3×2 Santos

The Campeonato Brasileiro is renowned for being one of the most competitive leagues in world football. With Brazil’s recent economic boom allowing their top sides to pay astronomical wages for players, the league’s quality has never been better. When you combine this quality with the naturally competitive style of the league, you get one of the most exciting editions of the Brasileirão in a long time.

The league table has seen countless permutations since the start of the season, and even now in October with ten rounds left to play, we still have no idea who will end the season as champions. With an abundance of attacking talent up and down the league, we have seen some really thrilling matches, and it has got to the stage that this week’s five-goal thriller between Fluminense and Santos is almost a regular occurence.