Brasileirão Week 7: Ecstasy at Engenhão, Flamengo Find Form and Suárez the Showman

The Brazilian top flight’s seventh gameweek boasted some seismic fixtures this week, and the world’s most competitive league did not disappoint. Clashes at both ends of the table as well as the 413th edition of one of Brazil’s most famed rivalries created a stage for the league’s big players to step up, with coaches’ futures uncertain and atmospheres rowdy as ever. 

After losing their perfect league record last week in a surprise defeat to Goiás, Botafogo had the perfect chance to restate their title credentials in a daunting showpiece fixture against city rivals and fellow title hopefuls Fluminense. In an intensely competitive and tight affair, it was Cuesta who won the clássico for Fogão with a scrappy goal characteristic of the match as a whole - the only goal of the match, given after a lengthy VAR check, sealed a truly priceless three points for Luís Castro’s league leaders to create a three-point cushion at the top of the table.

https://twitter.com/botafogo/status/1660071139845062656?s=46&t=2c5eOOrzEljAg6Z1mslgFA

All eyes were on Porto Alegre on Sunday, as Arena do Grêmio played host to one of the most notorious derbies on the continent between Grêmio and Internacional. Inter entered the blue and black cauldron as, sensationally, the league’s lowest scorers amidst a dismal run of form - a perfect contrast with their newly promoted rivals, who had the timeless goalscoring gifts of Luís Suarez to light up the vibrant atmosphere with an outrageous long-range finish after just 6 minutes.