Luciano on fan chat at CT and sub that got Roger booed at Morumbi | OneFootball

Forward Luciano scored for São Paulo for the third consecutive game, this time proving decisive in the 1-0 win over Juventude on Tuesday night (21) at Morumbi, in the first leg of the 5th round of the Copa do Brasil.

Despite the positive result, once again Roger Machado was booed and heckled by the Tricolor fans during the match, keeping tensions high with the stands. This Monday (2), on the eve of the game, some members of Torcida Independente went to the Barra Funda training center to confront the players. And Luciano revealed the tone of the demands.

“They asked for more commitment, for us to run more, fight harder for victories, and they also said we let a win slip away, in a first half where we had controlled Vasco at their place, and we agreed with that,” said the No. 10 in the mixed zone at Morumbi.

“We asked for their support, and sure enough today the fans came, showed up, and backed us. Of course we wanted to win 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, but we’re going there with a 1-0 lead and full confidence that, while respecting Juventude, we can come away with the win and qualification,” the forward added.

CONTROVERSY OVER THE SUBSTITUTION

The moment that sparked even more anger and boos from São Paulo fans toward Roger was the substitution the coach made near the end of the match, when he replaced Luciano, who was playing well, with André Silva. The No. 10 defended the coach and said his substitution had already been planned.

“In the game against Vasco I asked to come off, I had missed two games because of a calf injury, and today it was also already in the plan, I was supposed to come off earlier, but I asked to stay on a little longer.”

“After that I spoke to him and asked to come off for load management, because I can’t miss any more games, so it was load management and because I asked to come off,” the Tricolor striker explained.

São Paulo’s top scorer was also asked by the press what needs to happen for Roger Machado to finally win over the fans. And Luciano was emphatic.

“Win. We need to win, and win well, so everyone can regain confidence. We need a convincing victory. I think today the biggest ones to blame were us players on the field, because we had chances to score, we had chances to put the game to bed here, and we didn’t.”

“The coach practically draws it up and shows it to us on video. And today we were incapable of scoring the goals. We had four chances, five clear chances to score, and we only got one. So I think today the coach was not the one most at fault, we players were,” the forward stressed again, repeating what he said as he left the pitch.

After a night like that, with Roger hanging on to his job as best he can, São Paulo’s attention now turns to the Brazilian Championship, where the team will try to stay in the G-4 when it faces Mirassol at 9 p.m. (Brasília time) this Saturday (25), at Brinco de Ouro, since Morumbi will be unavailable due to a concert.

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