São Paulo cruise past Internacional, keep Libertadores hopes alive | OneFootball

As long as there is bamboo, there are arrows.

Okay, we know, we've used this phrase before in a São Paulo game report. The fact is, there's nothing more fitting to describe the current situation of the Tricolor in the Brazilian Championship.

In crisis, coming off a 6-0 defeat, and with fans more inclined to protest than support at Vila Belmiro, the scenario promised to be dramatic for the Morumbi club on the night of this Wednesday (3). Fortunately, the opponent was Internacional. The team from Rio Grande do Sul is in a much, much worse situation than the team from São Paulo. They were easy prey for Hernán Crespo's reinforced team, which won decisively by 3-0 in their farewell as hosts in this penultimate round of the Brasileirão.

Indeed, there couldn't have been a better opponent for São Paulo to give the proper response to the fans. And the heroic Tricolores who traveled down the mountain were rewarded for the rain they endured with a very solid performance from their team.

With the return of Ferreirinha on the left wing and Luciano in attack, the Tricolor excelled. They dominated the actions, exchanged passes easily against a fragile Colorado team, and managed to get the game transition and offensive construction right.

The problem, however, was in finishing. Almost all the perfect passes from Ferreirinha, Marcos Antônio, and Bobadilla were wasted by Luciano and Tapia.

The volume of play upfront hid the old São Paulo defensive issues. Crespo's 3-2-5 formation with the ball leaves the team exposed when they lose it. There are flaws in the repositioning that allow the opponent to appear with some ease in the midfield, especially playing behind the two wings. Fortunately for us, on the other side was not Fluminense, but Internacional, a poor team with almost no efficient collective plays and inefficient construction.

Thankfully, on this night, unlike other Tricolor carnivals, the attack compensated for the scares from their defense. São Paulo opened the scoring at 20 minutes, in an aerial play. Ferreirinha took a free-kick from the right, and Sabino, completely unmarked, rose to head it in.

When the team from Rio Grande do Sul threatened to complicate things against São Paulo's narrow lead, the team decided to offer something they haven't had in a long time: tranquility. At 47 minutes, just before the end of the first half, Maik extended the lead with a shot from the edge of the area in a ball that hit perfectly after a triangulation with Ferreirinha and Bobadilla.

With the margin widened in their favor and the opponent sunk, the return from the break sealed the deal. Just 2 minutes in, Marcos Antônio (again!) delivered a beautiful through pass. This time, Luciano did not waste it. He took advantage of Rochet falling to the ground too early and chipped it over to score the third of the night.

The victory becomes extremely important for the Tricolor to keep their Libertadores dream alive. The team remains isolated in eighth place in the standings, now with 51 points, three ahead of Bragantino. This position is crucial, as if Cruzeiro or Fluminense win the Copa do Brasil, the eighth place will earn a spot in the preliminary phase of the main South American club competition.

Now, back in peace and excited by the good game displayed, São Paulo heads to their farewell of the frustrating season. They face Vitória at 4 PM (Brasília time) on Sunday (7), in Salvador (BA), needing a win to possibly save a year that has been completely lost so far.

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