Diniz: Vasco dominated São Paulo at São Januário despite loss | OneFootball

The great winning streak of Vasco came to an end this Sunday. After winning four consecutive games in the Brazilian Championship, the Cruzmaltino was defeated by São Paulo 2-0 at São Januário, during the 31st round of the competition. Despite the result, coach Fernando Diniz believes that the Gigante da Colina was the better team on the field in Rio de Janeiro.

“For me, Vasco was a bit vulnerable, but not everything went wrong in the game. We didn't play badly, especially in the first half. I think we were extremely dominant in the game, even more so than in the matches against Cruzeiro and Bahia. We just didn't score. This led to our lack of concentration, conceding the corner, and then we committed a penalty. Otherwise, the first half would have ended 0-0. We came back for the second half very dominant, but we couldn't score,” analyzed Fernando Diniz.

Necessary Risk

Vasco finished the match with four forwards on the field, seeking to equalize the game at home. For Fernando Diniz, with the changes, the team suffered many counterattacks, but the several offensive players were a necessary risk in the pursuit of leveling the score.

“I believe we lacked inspiration. We were marking well and playing the game well. After the middle of the second half, the substitutions were clearly intended to bring in someone with more inspiration, to have more control of the ball, and someone to put it in the net. After that, we lost organization and conceded some counterattacks, made some mistakes in ball exits. However, it was a risk we had to take to at least draw,” concluded Fernando Diniz.

Photos: Dikran Sahagian / Vasco

With the defeat, Vasco remains with 42 points in 31 games, occupying the ninth position in the Brazilian Championship. The next commitment of the Carioca club in the competition is this Wednesday, at 7:30 PM (Brasília time), against Botafogo, at Estádio Nilton Santos.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.