Thanks, mate! Bottom side Boston beat O’Higgins, São Paulo stay top | OneFootball

Luck really does seem to be on São Paulo’s side at the start of this Copa Sudamericana campaign. After drawing at home with Millonarios this Tuesday (19), the Tricolor saw bottom-placed Boston River win, keeping the Morumbi club at the top of Group C.

Having had zero points until then after four defeats, the Uruguayan side finally claimed its first win, beating O’Higgins 3-2 on Wednesday night (20) at the Centenario Stadium. Muñoa, González, and Ramírez scored for the home team, while Thiago Vecino and Castillo pulled goals back.

As a result, the defeated Chilean side remains in 3rd place with 7 points, behind Millonarios with 8 and São Paulo with 9. Therefore, the Tricolor now depends only on itself to secure 1st place in the group and advance to the round of 16 without needing an extra match.

In the Copa Sudamericana, only the group winners advance directly, while the runners-up go into a playoff against a team coming from the Copa Libertadores to determine who stays alive. São Paulo is already guaranteed at least 2nd place in the group.

São Paulo’s qualification is now virtually assured, since its final match is precisely against the weak Boston River at Morumbi next Tuesday (26), to seal its place once and for all.

Even if it stumbles against Boston and draws once again, the Tricolor would still have a good chance of advancing in first place. That would only fail to happen if Millonarios beat O’Higgins in the final round, as it would reach 11 points, leaving São Paulo on 10.

A draw in that match or an O’Higgins win would still send the Tricolor through, since the Chileans could match São Paulo’s 10 points but would remain in 2nd place on the tiebreakers.

Even with an embarrassing defeat, Dorival Jr.’s team could still advance directly to the round of 16. If it loses and stays on 9 points, it would have to hope for a draw between Millonarios and O’Higgins in Colombia. The home side would level on points, but would also finish in 2nd place, since it lost its head-to-head meeting with the Tricolor in this group stage.

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