Endrick’s goal gives Palmeiras the Brasileirão title

The future Real Madrid forward scored the goal that gave his side the title in Brazil’s top division.

Brazil has a new king. Palmeiras won their second Brasileirao in a row: with Endrick as one of the team’s main attackers, he proved his worth on the final day of the Brazilian championship.

The young striker opened the scoring midway through the first half to put one Verdão hand on the trophy and also surpassed Neymar as the 17-year-old with the most goals in a single season, with 11 goals to the Al Hilal forward’s 10. Ronaldo Nazário, who watched the match from the stands, still holds the record with 12.

In what could be Abel Ferreira’s last game in the Palmeiras dugout, Endrick scored his fifth goal in his last seven games. After his dazzling performance against Botafogo he has been scoring for fun, with the Portuguese coach’s confidence crucial in squeezing out the best version of Real Madrid’s next star.

Before impacting the scoreboard, the Brazilian, who has played over 50 games for Palmeiras and was recently rewarded with a Brazil call-up, had two almost identical chances that did not make it past Cruzeiro’s in-form goalkeeper. However, he made no mistake with his third shot on goal. Lucas Silva, who played for Real Madrid between 2015 and 2019, failed to control the ball, leaving Endrick all alone in front of Rafael Cabral, and he did not let the goalkeeper make save number three, slotting past him.

Cruzeiro, who are majority owned by Ronaldo, improved their game in the second half, although they knew that their chances of entering the Copa Sudamericana were complicated by the results coming from other parts of Brazil. Even so, they pushed on for an equaliser despite the poor reaction from fans given their recent run