Crespo’s São Paulo beat São Bernardo for first Paulistão win | OneFootball

After almost three months away from home, São Paulo hosted São Bernardo on Thursday night (15th) under pressure both on and off the field due to the tumultuous moment they were experiencing, whether politically, with the looming impeachment vote of President Julio Casares, or in the Paulista Championship, where they needed to recover from the overwhelming defeat in the opener against Mirassol.

The reunion with the tricolor temple allowed no surprises, and São Paulo, with a good performance but facing climatic adversities and a heavy pitch, won 1-0 to defeat the opponent from Grande ABC and achieve the crucial first victory in the State Championship to regain the fans' confidence at a crucial moment for the club's future.

Aware of the need to respond in the reunion with the tricolor home, coach Hernán Crespo fulfilled the prognosis and changed everything in the team. He abandoned the three defenders and set up a 4-3-3 with wingers. Lucas reappeared in the starting lineup, and previously undisputed starters like Luciano, Bobadilla, Marcos Antônio, and Alan Franco were left out (the latter was not even listed due to injury risk).

Indeed, the new formation promised a São Paulo with more attacking outlets, more intensity, and less rigidity, with greater game articulation capability.

It would have been, if not for one detail: the heavy rain that fell over Morumbi throughout the match. There was so much water that even the drainage couldn't handle it, and the field became extremely heavy, complicating Crespo's game plan.

An adaptation to the conditions was necessary, more favorable to the visitor, who even started better. And the new São Paulo responded, managing to work their game and maintain relative control of the actions on the field, even though there was a lack of better objectivity in the conclusion.

Even so, chances arose. Two of them drew sighs from the small crowd that braved the rain to watch the team: a ball on the post by Lucca and a cross from Ferreirinha that the defense deflected incorrectly and almost caught the goalkeeper by surprise.

After the break, with the already known tributes to Casares coming mainly from the section where the organized fans are, São Bernardo returned more daring and almost surprised with accurate crosses that required good saves from Rafael in the conclusions.

Then Crespo decided to bring another novelty of the day from the bench: Calleri. With the pitch showing signs of improvement, perhaps a superb finisher could improve the finishes. At least ball control and the pivot, nonexistent with Tapia, appeared.

With more objectivity upfront and maintaining good tactical discipline, the feeling was that it was just a matter of time before the goal appeared. And so it was. At 33 minutes, after a dangerous attempt by São Bernardo, São Paulo scored their first goal in the Paulistão. Danielzinho took a good free-kick into the area, Arboleda deflected it, hit the crossbar, and Luciano picked up the rebound, striking with immense left-footed skill to hit the top corner.

In stoppage time, the game's controversy. Referee Murilo Tarrega Victor awarded a penalty after Ferreirinha fell in the area, supposedly touched by a São Bernardo defender. But VAR snitched, and after reviewing on the monitor, the referee reversed his decision. No one cared anymore, as the victory was already secured.

Buoyed by the first triumph in the State Championship and, perhaps, with the political situation calmed after the crucial day in the Deliberative Council, São Paulo returns to the field at 4 p.m. (Brasília time) on Sunday (18th) for the first classic in the competition, against rival Corinthians, in Itaquera.

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