PHILADELPHIA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Palmeiras won the all-Brazilian last-16 tie against Botafogo in the Club World Cup on Saturday to set up a quarterfinal against winner between Benfica and Chelsea.
Paulinho's goal in the first half of the extra time gave Palmeiras victory against a rival that paid for its lack of ambition, only beginning to attack seriously after falling behind.
Botafogo was happy to allow Palmeiras to control the ball deep early in the match rather than apply a high line of pressure, although Vitor Roque was close to putting Palmeiras ahead when he was inches away from a touch on Joaquin Piquerez's cross from the left.
There were some robust challenges going in from both sides and the referee surprisingly took no action after a terrific collision between Igor Jesus and Gustavo Gomez in the middle of the pitch.
Both players recovered after treatment and Gomez was close to poking Palmeiras ahead from a corner that Botafogo struggled to clear.
Palmeiras did most of the attacking, with Botafogo defending well, but failing to create in attack in a first half where defenses were on top.
Gomez then saw a yellow card for a wild challenge in the middle of the park, which just about summed up a first 45 minutes with little flowing play in attack between two teams that know each other very well.
The best chance in the half came in the fifth minute of injury time with Richard Rios' powerful shot going just above the bar.
The second half started with Botafogo goalkeeper John (who was easily his side's best player) making a fine save from Estevao, who had the ball in the net moments later, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.
Palmeiras was pressing hard, with Vitor Roque's overhead kick blocked and Mauricio's 20-meter drive straight at John.
At the other end, Jefferson Savarino hit a shot over the bar, in a rare Botafogo attack, before John was again in action tipping over Mauricio's flicked near-post header.
The lack of pace in Botafogo's play implied it was happy to see extra time, which looked to be a mistake in the 100th minute when Paulinho cut inside from the right, beat his marker and scored with a low shot into John's far post.
Only after the goal did Botafogo finally start to attack, with Joaquin Correa causing problems for the Palmeiras defense but nobody was able to provide a finish to his crosses from the wing and even though Gomez was sent off for a second yellow card Palmeiras hung on for a well-deserved first win over Botafogo since 2023. Enditem
京公网安备 11010802027341号