Analysis: São Paulo deserve boos, struggle, but do the job in Sula | OneFootball

São Paulo heard justified boos at halftime and suffered more than it should have, but it did its job by beating O’Higgins-CHI 2-0 last Tuesday at Morumbis in the second round of the Copa Sudamericana. Tricolor was highly inconsistent and failed to maintain its level of play throughout the 90 minutes. The home side fielded its strongest lineup and did no more than its duty by securing the three points, leaving the field with the negative note of a possible injury to Marcos Antonio.

How was the match?

Coach Roger Machado suffered a last-minute setback for the match, but still decided to field São Paulo at full strength. The manager was without Ferreira, who had swelling in his left thigh, and chose to give young Lucca a chance, which excited the fans. Other changes included the returns of Calleri, Luciano and Bobadilla, all recovered from their respective physical issues.

The first ten minutes of the match featured a São Paulo side that dominated possession but started off misplacing some passes. It was possible to notice certain gaps in O’Higgins’ defensive system, especially between the lines, and Tricolor spotted that as early as the seventh minute. Calleri chested the ball down for Luciano, who, drifting into space, struck from the edge of the box and found the net to open the scoring.

After taking an early lead, São Paulo played with greater calm. Tricolor remained in control and eased the early pressure on Roger Machado, who had been booed by the fans when his name was announced on the Morumbis big screen. Even so, O’Higgins began to see a bit more of the ball, and the home side stopped attacking, settling for the partial lead.

The control São Paulo had in the first 25 minutes quickly disappeared. In the span of two minutes, O’Higgins nearly equalized on two defensive lapses, but Rafael was there to intervene. The fact is that the match started to become dangerous for São Paulo, which let the tempo drop and lost its early momentum, creating no scoring chances and overusing central play without width on the flanks.

After the 35-minute mark, São Paulo completely lost control of the match. O’Higgins dominated possession and pressed, troubling Tricolor on several occasions. The first half was split between 20 good minutes from the home side and another 25 that were completely unrecognizable. Even the fans acknowledged that, booing the team as it left the field despite the partial lead. It was a poor offensive display from São Paulo, which created little and allowed its rival to impose itself late on.

Second half

São Paulo came back for the second half unchanged. Tricolor seemed to have regained the desire it showed at the start of the first half and created a big chance just six minutes in. Shortly afterward, in a very well-worked move with close interplay among the forwards—something that had been missing—the home side scored its second goal. Artur played a one-two with Bobadilla, then with Luciano, and received the ball from Calleri inside the box to find the net.

With the second goal, São Paulo answered back and lifted a weight off its shoulders after being booed as it headed into halftime. From then on, the home team handed possession to O’Higgins and started waiting for a counterattack to try to find an opening and score a third. It was on one of those occasions, however, that Tricolor almost conceded an equalizer, when the defense failed to clear a cross into the six-yard box, but the opposing forward missed.

Even so, São Paulo managed to control the result—not the match—and left the field with the three points. The performance may not have convinced the fans, who really should not be satisfied with the display. Tricolor had too many scares against a technically inferior team, which cannot happen, especially at home. It was far from a brilliant game from Roger Machado’s team.

Overall, the takeaway from the match cannot be considered entirely positive. The win came, which matters a lot, but São Paulo was inconsistent during the game and found few solutions when it faced problems, whether offensively or defensively. On top of that, Tricolor also lost Marcos Antonio, who felt pain in the first half and ended up being substituted. It remains to be seen whether the No. 8, the team’s main “cog,” will be sidelined for long.

Standings situation

With the result, São Paulo moved to the top of Group C in the Copa Sudamericana. Tricolor claimed its second win in the tournament, maintained a 100% record, and reached six points, overtaking O’Higgins.

São Paulo’s next matches

Vasco vs. São Paulo (12th round of the Brazilian Championship) Date and time: 04/18 (Saturday), 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: São Januário, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

São Paulo vs. Juventude (first leg of the fifth round of the Copa do Brasil) Date and time: 04/21 (Tuesday), 7:15 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Morumbis, in São Paulo (SP)

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