Coritiba beats Palmeiras in Brasileirao debut

BRASILIA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Coritiba shocked the recently crowned Sao Paulo state champions Palmeiras on Sunday after winning 2-0 on the opening day of the Brasileirao in their tournament debut.

In a game that began evenly, the first half was uneventful before the second half witnessed Coritiba's new arrival Michael proving that he is worth all the hype surrounding him.

Michael and Hugo were the only two to score in Sunday's game, giving Coritiba a 2-0 victory.

Both teams began to find their rhythm 20 minutes into the game and began a series of attack-counterattack.

When the first half came to an end, the scoreboard was even at 0-0.

The second half was disappointing to Palmeiras. Alex Mineiro and Kleber were unable to create play or find any holes in the Coritiba defense. Both players, frustrated, received yellow cards.

For Coritiba, their star player Keirrison left the game early in the second half due to muscle pains in his thigh. He is expected to be placed on the injured reserve list for a few weeks.

In Keirrison's place, Hugo entered the field and was the author of the team's second goal in the 38th minute of the second half. The game's first goal came off the cleats of Michael, who scored in the 9th minute of the second half.

It seems that Palmeiras is in a type of hangover from their Sao Paulo state title. They did not seem to be affected by Coritiba's first goal and continued to play with a slow pace and too many passes, often bad passes leading to turnovers.

Midfielder Diego Souza was expelled from the game in the 24th minute of the second half. But Coritiba did not take advantage of this and played a defensive minded game, until Michael made a beautiful pass off to Hugo to score the second for the team.

Palmeiras will host Internacional next Sunday. On the same day, Coritiba will travel to play Figueirense.