São Paulo lose unbeaten run in Brasileirão to Atlético-MG | OneFootball

And the penultimate unbeaten team of the Brazilian Championship has fallen.

On the night of this Wednesday (18th), with coach Roger Machado resting some players due to fatigue, the synthetic grass, and the upcoming derby against rivals Palmeiras over the weekend, a bureaucratic São Paulo ended up defeated by Atlético-MG 1-0 in Belo Horizonte (MG).

It was a São Paulo side that faced a scenario similar to the one in Bragança Paulista (SP) last weekend, with an opponent pressing high in midfield and managing to neutralize their playmaking.

The difference, however, is that the home team tonight proved to be more dangerous than those on Sunday (15th), creating three clear chances to score in the first 30 minutes, all of them saved by Rafael.

This seemed to be the cue for Tricolor to get their defensive rhythm right. And so, in a way, the team managed to neutralize Atlético’s attacks, even if that meant maintaining their offensive problems. Slow and lacking intensity, São Paulo couldn’t build up play, break lines, or make their presence felt in the final third of the pitch.

After halftime, Roger tried to fix things by bringing on the rested starters, namely Luciano and Lucas. It had some effect, increasing possession and passing productivity. But there was still a lack of quality for more incisive and refined playmaking.

In this context, with lots of passing and little effectiveness, things favored Atlético. In the 18th minute, Bobadilla lost possession in midfield, Bernard crossed from the midfield to the box, Alan Franco, unmarked at the far post, headed it across, and Ivan Román rose higher than Sabino to send it into the net. Another goal conceded from a cross.

What was already bad got worse at the 25th minute, in a stroke of pure misfortune. Lucas was fouled at the edge of the box and, as he fell, was hit in the ribs by the Atlético player’s knee, having to leave the field in an ambulance. It’s a concern.

Trailing on the scoreboard, the end of the match played out as expected: Atlético completely closed in defense and São Paulo pushing for the attack, but without much effectiveness.

With their first defeat in the main national competition, Tricolor remains at 16 points and once again shares the top of the table with their green rivals. The tiebreaker for the lead between the two will be at 9 p.m. (Brasília time) this Saturday (21st), at Morumbi.

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