Brasileirão: Sport coach Pepa rages at VAR as vice-president pushes for foreign referees in Brazil [video] | OneFootball

The Campeonato Brasileiro played out Matchday 2 of the new season at the weekend, during which Portuguese bosses Pepa and Abel Ferreira faced off in a controversial match between Sport Recife and Palmeiras.

Elsewhere, Leonardo Jardim has endured a bad week with new club Cruzeiro, while Renato Paiva got his first league win with Botafogo, but Pedro Caixinha is making an unconvincing start with Santos.

Abel Ferreira and Palmeiras earned a 2-1 victory at Sport Recife on Sunday evening, with both goals coming from penalty kicks scored by José López and Joaquin Piquerez. Sport, who had equalised through Chrystian Barletta, were left furious by referee Bruno Arleu de Araújo’s decision to issue the spot-kicks.

Sport’s vice-president was furious, telling reporters: "I'm not going to debate with you whether it was a penalty or not. It wasn't a penalty. What happened is a disgrace to Brazilian refereeing. I can understand that the referee, on the pitch, watching the play in real time, could make a mistake. But I can't understand how, with video refereeing, there isn't even a review.

“Brazil today imports coaches, Brazil today imports players. It's time to import referees too, because the refereeing isn't at the level of the championship.”

Former Paços Ferreira and Vitória Guimarães boss Pepa, who guided the team to promotion last year, concurred with the sentiment. “The VAR had a blackout today. And a big one," he said. "I 100% agree with what was said here. We played a great game, eye to eye, two good teams. It leaves a feeling of great helplessness. I don't like to talk about it. I was in disbelief.”

Meanwhile, an important victory for Abel’s Palmeiras, who began the campaign with an underwhelming performance in a goalless draw against Botafogo last weekend. During his post-match media duties, Abel intimated that his team have a gruelling season ahead of them as they battle Brazil’s notoriously lacked schedule.

"We have to win and look for a result, even when we don't play so well,” Abel said. “It's very difficult to play at full strength here in Brazil. It's like playing with your phone at 70%, 80% battery. It's easy to see in the game who is fresher and who is heavier.

"We have to go through difficulties. Brazilian football is not for amateurs. There are a lot of games, little training, a lot of traveling. Let's see how many teams can win here, this team will be hard work. With all due respect, Sport fights for other objectives. That's what a big team is, they don't always play well, we're looking for the best dynamics to help these players. We can't risk traveling too often"

Tough times for Jardim at Cruzeiro; Paiva and Caixinha with differing fortunes

Leonardo Jardim got off to a good start last weekend with an opening-day win over Mirassol, but things have turned sour for the well-travelled Portuguese since. Cruzeiro suffered a 1-0 defeat in Argentina against Unión in midweek, which was followed by a heavy 3-0 thrashing by Internacional in Serie A on Sunday. The setback means Jardim has 1 victory from 6 official matches.

Cruzeiro went down to 10 men after just twenty minutes when young defender Jonathan Jesus was sent off for a last-man challenge just outside the penalty area. Internacional had the game all but wrapped up by half time thanks to goals by Alan Patrick and Enner Valencia giving them a 2-0 lead at the break, after which Rafael Borré got the third. In truth, the scoreline could have been much bleaker for Jardim’s side, who looked lost in Porto Alegre.

There was better news for Renato Paiva, who is the new man in charge of Brazilian and South American champions Botafogo, who beat Juventude 2-0 to move up to 5th place. Finally, Pedro Caixinha’s Santos were held 2-2 at home by Bahia, meaning they have taken just one point from their opening two matches.