There’s no bigger rivalry in Brazil than the one between Corinthians and Palmeiras, the Derby Paulista. It was already a very heated affair to begin with due to recent fan clashes and the fact that the Alviverde are facing an uphill relegation battle, but it seemed like Romarinho taunting the green fans sent them over the edge.

Corinthians aren’t having a very memorable season, mid-table in the Campeonato Brasileiro, but Palmeiras are currenlty 19th, in a place that leads to the second division, at the moment 7 points away from being safe, which seems like incredibly difficult to overcome.

The match, played at the Arena Barueri, Palmeiras’ soon to be replaced home stadium, wasn’t going to just go through the 90 minutes quietly. Last March an organised fight between both sets of hardcore fans left one Palmeiras dead.

And then Romarinho (Romário Ricardo da Silva) scored in the 21st minute after a terrible mistake in the Palmeiras defense. So what does he do to celebrate? Run to the Palmeiras fans and taunt them, which seemed to send them over the edge and some players from their team, throwing a few objects onto the pitch before rallying to storm the pitch before being stopped quite aggressively by the police forces.

Personally, I love seeing players take an active stand like this and make things a little worse for opposing fans, especially in away matches. The problem is there are too many football fans who take the match too seriously, and that kind of celebration doesn’t sit too well with them, when it’s done to them that is. Still, the problem is with the hooligans, not the celebrating players.