São Paulo lose to Mirassol, worst run in 89 years, dream fading | OneFootball

The end of the year is turning out to be anything but encouraging for São Paulo. On Sunday night (19), apathetic and harmless, the Tricolor went to Mirassol and ended up being easy prey for the surprising team from the countryside: they lost 3–0, a result that further complicates the dream of qualifying for the next Copa Libertadores.

In practice, São Paulo had never lost to Mirassol away from home in history. However, the list includes a 1–0 defeat in the 2016 Copa Paulista, a competition in which the Tricolor used an alternate squad, but which counts as a first-team match.

In any case, the setback in Mirassol can already be considered historic, after all, for the first time since 1936 the Mirassol club reaches an embarrassing record of one win and seven losses in eight matches.

After last week’s loss to Grêmio, things couldn’t continue as they were. And coach Hernán Crespo showed he was aware of that: he made no fewer than five changes to the starting lineup, including Lucas’s return to the starting eleven, something that hadn’t happened since his serious injury in March, in the Paulista Championship semifinal.

But there was barely time to observe what the Argentine coach had planned. In the first play of the match, Mirassol confirmed their unexpected favoritism. Reinaldo crossed from the left, the ball went past the Tricolor’s back line, and Alesson, unmarked, headed it in to open the scoring at 34 seconds, netting the fastest goal of the current Brazilian Championship.

From there, it was a disaster opera, with a completely useless São Paulo—slow, without transitions, struggling to build, and their three-at-the-back buildup, already figured out, easily marked.

Horrendous as they were, at least the Tricolor didn’t see Mirassol create many chances or show greater emphasis in their offensive construction. Given the ease, Alan Franco decided to be a good visitor and lent the home team a helping hand. At 30, he tangled with Carlos Eduardo in the box and pulled the opponent by the shorts, a move spotted and reported by VAR. Penalty awarded and converted by Reinaldo (yes, him).

Two goals down, São Paulo completely fell apart. Marcos Antônio and Tapia tried from long range, saved by Walter, but the Tricolor lethargy continued.

Once again, it was up to São Paulo’s defense to add more excitement to the game, this time to settle things for good.

At 16 of the second half, from a free kick, Reinaldo crossed into the box and Lucas got a deflection. Mirassol players complained about a handball and, because of that, the penalty was awarded by referee Matheus Candançan after a VAR review. From the spot, Carlos Eduardo scored the third.

Stuck on 38 points, São Paulo goes to sleep in eighth place but can be overtaken by rivals over the course of the round, which ends this Monday (20).

Picking up the pieces, with the fans furious and the crisis fully established, the Tricolor returns to the field at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) next Saturday (25), against Bahia, at Morumbi, in a match that could have been a direct battle for a spot in the next Libertadores and now clearly looks like a mere formality.

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