After falling behind in the first half, Palmeiras returned in the second half to beat Noroeste 2-1 on Wednesday in the 12th round of the Sao Paulo state championship.
The home team scored the game's first and only goal of the first half. Noroeste's Ricardinho centered the ball in front of the Palmeiras net. Goalie Deola punched the ball out of the box, but the ball rolled to Vandinho who fired the ball back at the goal. Giovanni redirected his teammate's kick and placed the ball past Deola and into the Palmeiras goal.
It took the Palmeiras offense a long time to organize its movements. The team's first goal came in the 82nd minute when Valdivia commanded a free kick with perfection over the Noroeste defense and into the back of Andre Luis' net.
Valdivia assisted his team's go-ahead goal in the 85th minute, passing the ball off to Vinicius who quickly slammed the ball past Andre Luis.
The win improves Palmeiras to the second place with 25 points. The team will host Sao Bernardo on March 12. On the same day, 16th-placed Noroeste will travel to face Linense.
