São Paulo cruise past Grêmio and go top of the Brasileiro | OneFootball

The clock showed 35 minutes into the second half when the TV cameras caught Lucas, who had been substituted, on the bench. Relaxed, the idol was tapping a bottle and singing along with the organized fans' songs.

The moment of relaxation and joy was a pure reflection of a night that confirmed the end of São Paulo's bad phase. There were still ten minutes left to play, but Lucas, I, you, and anyone watching knew the obvious: the game was settled. With mastery.

In the third round of the Brazilian Championship this Thursday (11), on the day of the debut of its controversial new home jersey, São Paulo excelled. They dominated the match and defeated Grêmio 2-0 at Morumbi.

The result, believe it or not, made the widely predicted candidate for relegation before the start of the tournament, which a month ago was struggling with corruption allegations, salary delays, presidential impeachment, and financial chaos, sleep at the top of the Brasileirão, with seven points.

They are undefeated and, speaking of not losing, it has been five games without setbacks, making coach Hernán Crespo equal his personal record at the helm of Tricolor, achieved in August last year.

There were reasons to be excited about the performance on the field, but our role is always to preach pessimism. And what we saw on the field was another match where the club found it difficult to capitalize on their dominance, with better finishing.

Luckily, with the return to the 4-4-2 formation, since Crespo lost Arboleda, who went to Ecuador to resolve personal matters, the coach opted to field Lucas, and the team showed unprecedented compactness this year with this game setup. They improved defensive recovery. Much of this was due to Pablo Maia's entry in the first half after Bobadilla left the field in pain.

Debutant Lucas Ramon, starting for the first time, set the tone and improved vertical play. The attack still needed improvement. The scenario was that São Paulo could and should have done more.

The Tricolor's breakthrough in the match came at 21 minutes when Weverton ran over Marcos Antônio in the area, and a penalty was awarded. Lucas took the penalty and scored.

Early in the second half, at 12 minutes, the second goal came, with Calleri taking advantage of a pass inside the area from Luciano.

Luciano, by the way, could have extended the score but ended up seeing another penalty awarded to São Paulo being saved by the goalkeeper.

Of course, this is a bit of nitpicking from this writer. The important thing at this moment is to enjoy the return of the good phase of a team that, as we have always pointed out, is far from being one of the worst in the country. And the field is showing that.

The temporary leader São Paulo now returns to the field for the main national competition next Thursday (26), against Coritiba, away, at 8 pm (Brasília time). Before that, on Sunday (15), they will decide their future in the Campeonato Paulista against the relegated Ponte Preta, in Campinas (SP). They only need a win to seal their qualification for the quarter-finals.

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