Dorival has work to do: São Paulo lose to Remo in stoppage time | OneFootball

We have good news for our friends: the first half of the year is over, full focus now on the World Cup, and São Paulo won’t take the field again for almost two months.

There, I cheered you up, right? That’s the only way, really, because judging by what was shown on the pitch, once again Tricolor gave very few reasons for excitement.

On the night of this Sunday (31), in the 18th round of the Brazilian Championship, the last before the World Cup, the Morumbi club once again had a first half that was at least encouraging (within reason, of course) and a dreadful second half. Better for Remo, who are fighting to avoid relegation and got a stoppage-time goal to seal a 1-0 win at Mangueirão.

The result also saw Tricolor lose another taboo: it was the first defeat against the club from Pará, now after nine matches played in history.

In the first 45 minutes, if we didn’t get a display of great technical quality, we at least got attacking intent from both teams. In an open game, where São Paulo managed to be better than the opponent, Artur missed two excellent chances, both one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The home side also threatened. In one of their chances, Patrick (yes, that same one from the Ceni days) hit Rafael’s left post.

But we’re talking here about Dorival Júnior’s Tricolor. And if one hallmark of this third spell was broken — scoring goals in the opening minutes of matches — another one was not about to end so easily…

Once again, São Paulo’s second half was far below average, with a sharp drop in performance, unable to move forward or create, and spending most of the time watching Remo attack. A pattern, let’s be honest.

On the other side was Remo. Yago Pikachu shot straight at Rafael when he went through one-on-one, returning the favor to Artur. That lasted until stoppage time, when Dorival’s São Paulo script in this return was followed to the letter, with Marcelinho pouncing on a loose ball poorly cleared by the Tricolor defense and scoring the winner for the home side.

Now five games without a win in the national competition, São Paulo remain stuck on 25 points and, for the first time, drop out of the Libertadores qualification zone, in eighth place.

Well then, may Dorival put the house in order while we watch the World Cup. Time to work is something the coach will have. Tricolor return to the field only on July 22, against Athletico-PR. The venue has not yet been announced, since Morumbi will be handed over for a concert.

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