Domingos beats altitude, bosses Tricolor defence: Iago nails set plays | OneFootball

São Paulo had four debuts on Tuesday night (11), when the team drew 1-1 away to Bolívar in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana. Three of them started, while Aurélio Buta came on in the closing minutes in La Paz, Bolivia.

Domingos Duarte and Newton in central defense, along with Iago on the left flank/wing, were given a chance for the first time in Dorival Júnior’s starting lineup. Although all of them performed well, two stood out more to the São Paulo fans.

Portuguese rock at the back

In his first match at an extremely high altitude of more than 3,600 meters, Portuguese defender Duarte delivered a great performance. He imposed himself physically, cleared almost everything in his area of defense, and won most of his duels for the ball, committing just one foul in the match.

He recorded an impressive 15 defensive actions, leading the category alongside Arboleda. He made ten clearances, two interceptions, one blocked shot, one tackle, and recovered six more balls for São Paulo against the Bolivians.

The Portuguese center-back contested seven duels and won four, completing 15 passes from 21 attempts, with no mistakes that put the team in trouble. Domingos Duarte leaves a strong first impression and shows he can claim a starting spot for Tricolor.

Meet the waiter

Another player who impressed in his first match for the club was left-back Iago, who joined on loan from Bahia. He also started and provided the assist for Arboleda’s goal with a perfectly delivered cross from a corner in the first half.

At times he played as a full-back, at others as an attacking wing-back, and he showed quality going forward. He combined well in a few moves and was very involved in crossing, creating dangerous chances. The heat map shows his strong attacking involvement in the match in La Paz.

He completed 11 passes, nine of them accurate, and had one shot attempt, which was blocked, along with 30 touches and one dribble in the 61 minutes the new Tricolor player stayed on the field.

Defensively, he was solid with two tackles, two clearances, and two blocked shots, as well as winning three of the four duels he contested for the ball. Iago committed only one foul and was not dribbled past even once by Bolívar’s players.

In “hostile” territory, largely because of the incredible altitude that significantly affects the game, Duarte and Iago gave São Paulo fans hope that the club really has signed two good reinforcements for its much-criticized defense.

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