Crespo: São Paulo deserved a draw, hails Memphis as top striker | OneFootball

The coach of São Paulo, Hernán Crespo, believes that his team deserved a draw this Thursday, after the defeat suffered in the derby against Corinthians, 3-1, at Neo Química Arena. The Argentine commander also made a point of praising Memphis Depay, the scorer of Timão's second goal.

“The game was for a draw. In the second half, we started to control, we reached a draw, we were controlling the game. At that moment, it seemed that São Paulo was more comfortable on the field. Then came the hierarchy, a Dutch striker, of hierarchy. Nutmeg and goal. Then the game was over,” said Crespo.

With 12 absences, the São Paulo coach fielded what was left at his disposal. In the first half, the team performed below expectations, committed another penalty this season, and went into halftime behind on the scoreboard. In the second half, after Tapia came on, the Tricolor improved considerably and could even have turned the game around. However, the lapse at the end proved costly, conceding two goals in five minutes and having to settle for the defeat.

“Nothing is bad luck. What I can say is that we had 13 players on the field to choose from for this game. Then I had to wait for three, four boys from Cotia, from the under-20s, who played on Sunday, couldn't train on Monday and Tuesday. We waited for the flights of Ferraresi, Bobadilla, and Tapia. I just have to congratulate them because they did their best. Nobody likes to lose a derby, but it is what it is. We have to look ahead, now we have a separate championship with Bragantino and Corinthians to reach eighth place and then hope for a club in the Copa do Brasil that allows us to reach the Libertadores. That's the reality,” Crespo pointed out.

Asked about the individual mistakes in the plays that resulted in Corinthians' goals, the São Paulo coach preferred not to point fingers. Ferreirinha committed the penalty converted by Yuri Alberto. Pablo Maia deflected the cross to Memphis's feet, who nutmegged Sabino before finishing. In the third Corinthians goal, the Tricolor defense was paralyzed after the Dutch striker hit the post, allowing Yuri enough space to control and seal the deal in Itaquera.

“Mistakes are part of the game. I'm not going to talk about the refereeing, whether it was a foul or not. I don't like to talk about it. The reality is this. These mistakes are very costly in a balanced game, as happened with Bragantino. Today it was Ferreirinha. It's something we can do better, but I'm not going to find culprits. The reality is this, the quality is this, the group is this. There are four rounds left, we will try to do our best, then we will make an important assessment, we cannot repeat the season that São Paulo had this year,” concluded Crespo.

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