Monkey off the back! São Paulo thrash Criciúma, Baptista gets first win | OneFootball

São Paulo finally returned to winning ways in the Brazilian U-20 Championship, crushing Criciúma 3-0 on Wednesday afternoon (20) at CFA Laudo Natel, in Cotia (SP).

The Tricolor’s winless streak had already reached seven matches in the competition. Another one who celebrated his first victory in charge of the team was coach Júlio Baptista, recently hired after Allan Barcellos’ turbulent departure from the youth setup.

The strong home win brings relief to the team, which has now moved a little farther away from the relegation zone, with 15 points in the standings. Júlio Baptista is still aiming to finish the first stage in the G8, which grants a spot in the Brasileirão quarterfinals.

THE MATCH

Just eight minutes in, the impressive Lucyan passed to full-back Igor Felisberto, who burst into the box and fired home to score a beautiful goal and open the scoring for Tricolor. In the 22nd minute, the home side was gifted one by goalkeeper Kauã, who made a bad play out from the back right to striker Léo, who made no mistake and scored São Paulo’s second. In the 33rd minute, Criciúma had a good chance, but João Nazari made the save.

The third goal only came in the second half. Once again Lucyan turned provider, this time crossing for Tetê to rise well and complete the rout over the team from Santa Catarina. With the comfortable lead, the Tricolor side kept possession and secured the positive result.

Out of form, Ryan Francisco started on the bench and only came on in the 33rd minute of the second half. The striker still missed a big chance in the final play, when he found himself free to shoot but sent it wide.

Now, Tricolor’s next Brazilian U-20 Championship match is away against Vitória next Wednesday (27), again at 3 p.m. (Brasília time).

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