Old flaws in Dorival return, São Paulo draw with Millionarios in Sula | OneFootball

Even the most optimistic and excited fan may have seen a much better São Paulo, but the fact is that on Tuesday night (19), in Dorival Júnior’s return as the team’s new coach, the Tricolor repeated some of the mistakes shown in Roger Machado’s final matches in charge.

It was only natural for that to be the case, given the very limited time to work, with just one training session. Even so, what was expected was a team in better spirits, one that had been looking a bit flat. And for the most part, that was visible. But good intentions are not enough, let’s be honest…

Once again left with a hollow midfield, allowing the opposition to play with relative freedom, and still plagued by marking problems and individual mistakes, São Paulo were held to a 1-1 draw by Millonarios at Morumbi.

In the end, they were even somewhat fortunate, considering the Colombian side missed a penalty in the 43rd minute of the second half…

The result delays São Paulo’s plans to secure qualification in the Copa Sudamericana as leaders of Group C, which would guarantee a direct place in the round of 16. With 9 points, they could lose top spot if O’Higgins beat Boston River in Uruguay this Wednesday (20).

The night looked set to be a joyful one for São Paulo fans as early as the 8th minute, when Luciano tried his luck from distance and the Colombian goalkeeper spilled it badly.

It seemed to crown what had until then been an unforgiving performance by Tricolor, with total control of the game, plenty of attacking pressure, pinning back the Colombian side and giving the impression that it would be a fast-paced night.

But in truth, that was all it was: an impression. As time went on, the stretched São Paulo side gave Millonarios the space they wanted, allowing them to appear more regularly in attack and manage to nullify Tricolor’s main strength, which had been their wing play.

In the second half, São Paulo still could not impose the rhythm shown in the opening minutes and saw the opposition maintain the same approach: breaking up their attacks in midfield and finding ways through the spaces left by the home side. In the 35th minute, the worst happened as Dória made a mistake, gifted the ball to a Colombian player, who advanced and shot; the ball deflected off Alan Franco and wrong-footed Rafael, sealing the equalizer.

As if that were not bad enough, in the 40th minute Dória, again, clumsily brought down a Millonarios player in the box. Penalty given, and it could have meant a comeback and the end of São Paulo’s unbeaten run in the competition, but Contreras struck it very poorly and blasted the ball over.

With the draw, São Paulo have now gone seven straight matches without a win. On Saturday (23), at 5 p.m. Brasília time, they will try to bounce back in the Brazilian Championship against Botafogo at Morumbi. Their fate in the Sudamericana will be decided next Tuesday (26), against Boston River, once again at home.

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