This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
FC Inter News reported last week that Crystal Palace are ready to launch a £20m January bid for striker Gabriel Barbosa, so it was certainly interesting to see him in action for loan club Flamengo in the Copa Libertadores final on Saturday.
It seems certain that the south London outfit will look to bring a new centre-forward to Selhurst Park in the New Year given the links with the Brazilian as well as Scottish Premiership duo Odsonne Edouard and Alfredo Morelos, and ‘Gabigol’ certainly didn’t let any potential watching scouts done with a prolific display.
The 23-year-old took his tally to 31 goals in 38 matches in all competitions with a match-winning brace against River Plate, with the goals coming in the 89th and 90th minute in the dramatic 2-1 victory.
The five-cap international showed his quality in the final third by beating the goalkeeper twice, while according to WhoScored all four of his attempted shots during the encounter were on target – even more impressive given he only had 26 touches of the ball.
He did left himself down in one regard though, and that was his behaviour at the end of the match. Firstly, he was shown a yellow card for taking his shirt off having netted the decisive goal.
Barbosa still had time to sarcastically applaud the referee though, and was given a red card.
It wasn’t an isolated incident either, with the dismissal the second straight red he has received in the Copa Libertadores competition this year, also now collecting 12 yellow cards in his 38 games.
He may well be a goalscorer, but he has also shown his indiscipline too – much like another striker the Eagles are reportedly looking at in Morelos.
The Colombian picked up five red cards in 48 games for Rangers in 2018/19, although he does appear to have calmed down a little for Steven Gerrard’s men this time around, with no reds and five yellows.
It will be interesting to see what Palace decide to do in January, but the indications are after the weekend that signing ‘Gabigol’ would be a risk in some ways.
In other news, some Crystal Palace fans noted one man’s absence from their U23 fixture on Monday…