São Paulo reserves do try, but red card proves costly in loss to Palmeiras

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AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR

·13 September 2026

São Paulo reserves do try, but red card proves costly in loss to Palmeiras

São Paulo was beaten 2-0 by Palmeiras in this Saturday’s (12) Choque-Rei at Parque Antártica, in a match valid for the 27th round of the Brazilian Championship.

Focused on the Copa Sudamericana decider against Boca Juniors next Tuesday (15), Tricolor took the field with a mixed lineup, a heavily changed formation by Dorival Júnior, and saw the derby become complicated still in the first half with defender Osório’s sending-off for a reckless tackle on Piquerez.

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Strategy and Promising Start: With an alternative lineup — including names such as Carlos Coronel in goal, Pablo Maia in midfield, and Ferreirinha in attack — São Paulo started compact in a 4-2-3-1 setup, managing to stop the rival’s advances and balance possession in the attacking half during the first 30 minutes.
The Blow of the Red Card: The decisive moment against Tricolor came in the 39th minute of the first half. Defender Osório committed a hard foul, had the play reviewed by VAR, and was shown a straight red card. With a man down, São Paulo’s defensive structure collapsed before halftime.
Opening Goal: Taking advantage of Tricolor’s momentary disorganization, Palmeiras opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time (45+1′), when Murilo got on the end of a pass inside the box and headed it home with no chance for Coronel.
A Second Half of Resistance: After the break, Dorival brought on Arboleda in place of Cauly to rebuild the defense. However, just 5 minutes into the second half, Vitor Roque doubled the lead for the home side. São Paulo tried to overturn the deficit with the introduction of some starters, but the numerical disadvantage prevented any effective reaction, leaving them only to defend their goal and avoid a heavier scoreline.

With the defeat, São Paulo remains in 10th place, staying on 33 points in the Brasileirão and still unable to pull away from the relegation zone.

The club’s full attention now turns to Morumbi, where at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time on Tuesday, Tricolor will need to mount a comeback against Boca Juniors in the decisive Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal clash, after losing the first leg in Argentina 1-0.

In the Brasileirão, the next match is at 9:30 p.m. Brasília time on Saturday (19), against Internacional, also at home.

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