Domingos shrugs off altitude, Iago nails set pieces: debutants' stats | OneFootball

São Paulo had four debuts on Tuesday night (11), when the team drew 1-1 with Bolívar away from home in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana. Three of them started, while Aurélio Buta came on in the final minutes in La Paz, Bolivia.

Domingos Duarte and Newton in central defense, along with Iago on the left side as full-back/wing-back, got their chance for the first time in Dorival Júnior’s starting lineup. Although all of them played well, two stood out more to the São Paulo fans.

Portuguese rock at the back

In his first match at an extremely high altitude of more than 3,600 meters, Portuguese defender Duarte delivered a great performance. He imposed himself physically, cleared virtually everything in his area of defense, and won most of his duels for the ball, committing just one foul in the match.

He had an impressive 15 defensive actions, leading the category alongside Arboleda. He recorded ten clearances, two interceptions, one blocked shot, one tackle, and also recovered six balls for São Paulo against the Bolivians.

The Portuguese defender contested seven duels and won four, completing 15 passes from 21 attempts, with no mistakes that put the team in trouble. Domingos Duarte leaves a strong first impression and shows he can claim a starting spot for Tricolor.

Nice to meet you, waiter

Another player who impressed in his first match for the club was left-back Iago, who joined on loan from Bahia. He also started and provided the assist for Arboleda’s goal with a perfectly placed cross from a corner kick in the first half.

At times he played as a full-back, at others as an attacking wing-back, and he showed quality going forward. He combined well on several occasions and was very involved in getting crosses into the box, creating dangerous chances. The heat map shows his strong attacking involvement in the match in La Paz.

He completed 11 passes, with nine accurate, had one shot attempt that was blocked, 30 touches, and one successful dribble in the 61 minutes the new Tricolor player stayed on the pitch.

Defensively, he was solid with two tackles, two clearances, and two blocked shots, in addition to winning three of the four duels he contested for the ball. Iago committed just one foul and was not dribbled past even once by Bolívar’s players.

In ‘hostile’ territory, largely because of the incredible altitude that significantly affects the game, Duarte and Iago gave São Paulo fans hope that the club really has gained two good reinforcements for its much-criticized defense.

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