Jinx over! São Paulo thrash Criciúma, Júlio Baptista gets first U20 win | OneFootball

São Paulo finally returned to winning ways in the Brazilian U-20 Championship, thrashing Criciúma 3-0 on Wednesday afternoon (20) at CFA Laudo Natel, in Cotia (SP).

The Tricolor’s winless streak had already reached seven matches in the competition. Another one celebrating his first victory in charge of the team was coach Júlio Baptista, who was recently hired after Allan Barcellos’ turbulent departure from the youth setup.

The strong home win brings relief to the team, which has now opened up a little distance from the relegation zone, with 15 points in the standings. Júlio Baptista is still aiming to finish the opening stage in the top eight, which would secure a place in the Brasileirão quarterfinals.

THE MATCH

Just eight minutes in, the impressive Lucyan played it to full-back Igor Felisberto, who burst into the box and fired home to score a fine goal and open the scoring for Tricolor. In the 22nd minute, the home side was gifted a present by goalkeeper Kauã, who made a mistake while playing out from the back and gave the ball straight to forward Léo, who made no mistake and scored São Paulo’s second. In the 33rd minute, Criciúma did have a good chance, but João Nazari made the save.

The third goal only came in the second half. Lucyan was the provider once again, this time whipping in a cross for Tetê to rise well and seal the rout over the team from Santa Catarina. With the scoreline comfortable, the Tricolor side kept possession and saw out the positive result.

Out of form, Ryan Francisco started on the bench and only came on in the 33rd minute of the second half. The striker still missed a great chance in the final play, when he found himself free to shoot but sent it wide.

Now, Tricolor’s next Brazilian U-20 Championship match will be away against Vitória next Wednesday (27), once again at 3 p.m. (Brasília time).

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