Young guns hold O’Higgins, top and unbeaten, yet to concede | OneFootball

Once again, coach Roger Machado decided to field an alternative lineup in the Copa Sudamericana. And you know what that means…

Just like in the previous round against Millonarios in Colombia, São Paulo had a night of little offensive productivity and creativity. But they made up for it with a well-organized defensive system. And they left Chile with a scoreless draw against O’Higgins on Thursday night (7), in the fourth round of the continental competition.

Be that as it may, the draw ends up being beneficial for São Paulo, who remain the outright leaders of Group C, now with eight points, one ahead of the Chileans, but with the two remaining matches to be played at Morumbi, holding all the cards to secure direct qualification for the round of 16.

Roger started with two good surprises in the starting 11: right-back Igor Felisberto and center-back Osóio finally made their professional debuts for Tricolor. And amid the usual mistakes from debutants, the scenario showed much bigger deficiencies in the attacking unit, which was made up of experienced players.

Throughout the entire first half, the trio of Cauly, Tapia, and André Silva could not find each other. At times shifting into a back line of three, at others dropping deeper to play from midfield, the result was great difficulty in finding their rhythm and taking advantage of the spaces left by the home side during their constant attacks.

The lowest point, however, was Ferreirinha. The winger got the best chances to open the scoring in the first 45 minutes and missed three good opportunities, appearing in all of them as the surprise element inside the box.

Speaking of O’Higgins, the Chileans partly repeated the performance they had shown at Morumbi. Well coached, they kept more possession, but could not get their finishing right. That only changed at the start of the second half, when, taking advantage of a momentary blackout from Tricolor, they hit Coronel’s post twice.

The scare at least served to wake São Paulo up briefly, with their goalkeeper saving Tricolor’s best chance, a Tapia shot after a cross from the right by André Silva. But that was all.

By Roger’s choice, the main cavalry really did stay on the bench, other backups such as Lucca and Negrucci came on, and São Paulo’s pace dropped considerably.

There were even good chances for the Chileans to open the scoring, some of them quite dangerous, but as a rule their poor finishing, combined with luck and a strong defensive display from the back line and goalkeeper Coronel, managed to avoid the worst. Let’s be honest: it is not that easy to break down the best defense in the tournament, still unbeaten…

São Paulo now return to Sudamericana action on the 19th (Tuesday), when they will face Millonarios in the fifth round at Morumbi. Depending on what happens, they could secure qualification in advance. Before that, however, attention naturally turns to this Sunday (10), at 6:30 p.m. Brasília time, when the challenge is the derby against rivals Corinthians in Itaquera, in the Brazilian Championship.

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