Artur stunned by Chilean side, hails first São Paulo goal: “A landmark” | OneFootball

Artur was one of São Paulo’s standout players in Tuesday’s 2-0 win over O’Higgins at Morumbis, in the second round of the Copa Sudamericana. The forward revealed that Tricolor were surprised by the quality of the Chilean side, who came close to equalizing before the hosts extended their lead.

“We were surprised by the Chilean team. We weren’t expecting a side with this much quality. They deserve a lot of credit, they didn’t come just to defend. We got an important win, another three points,” the forward said in the mixed zone after the match.

São Paulo took the lead through Luciano just seven minutes into the first half. After that, they only managed to extend the advantage and seal the scoreline in the ninth minute of the second half. Artur played a quick one-two with Bobadilla, Luciano and Calleri, received the ball inside the box and finished past the goalkeeper. He scored his first goal for Tricolor and celebrated the achievement.

“Since the first game, I’ve really been chasing this goal. I thought that the sooner I scored, the more confidence I could gain. I’m very happy, it’s a historic moment for me and my family. A milestone in my story,” said the player, who also has one assist in five matches.

Boos at halftime

Artur also commented on the fans’ boos at halftime, but acknowledged the reason for them. Despite taking a narrow lead into the locker room, São Paulo allowed O’Higgins to grow into the game and underperformed, especially toward the end of the first half.

“I didn’t notice [the boos], honestly. We really went in frustrated because we didn’t have a good first half, and the players and coaching staff recognized that. We adjusted, Roger told us to stay closer together, to play nearer to each other, and that’s what we managed to do in the second half,” the player explained.

The No. 37 also defended the work of head coach Roger Machado, an old acquaintance of his. The two have already worked together on two occasions: at Palmeiras in 2018 and at Bahia in 2019. In fact, the coach was the one who pushed for Artur’s arrival at São Paulo.

“I’ve worked with Roger at a few clubs a few times. He’s always given confidence not only to me, but to the whole team. He’s someone who gives us a lot of freedom to do what we know how to do. I’m very happy with my moment and the team’s as well. Brazilian football is like this, there’s a game every three days. We lost a game we couldn’t afford to lose, but that’s part of it, and three days later we already had another one today. Now it’s another final against Vasco,” the forward concluded.

Standings situation

With the result, São Paulo moved to the top of Group C in the Copa Sudamericana. Tricolor claimed their second win in the tournament, maintained a 100% record and reached six points, overtaking O’Higgins.

São Paulo’s upcoming matches

Vasco vs São Paulo (12th round of the Brazilian Championship) Date and time: 04/18 (Saturday), 6:30 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: São Januário, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

São Paulo vs Juventude (first leg of the fifth round of the Copa do Brasil) Date and time: 04/21 (Tuesday), 7:15 p.m. (Brasília time) Venue: Morumbis, in São Paulo (SP)

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