Roger rejects Corinthians ‘gifts’, sees São Paulo merits in derby loss | OneFootball

Coach Roger Machado strongly disagreed with a question during his press conference and created an awkward moment after the 3-2 loss to Corinthians in the derby played in Itaquera on Sunday night (10), in the Brazilian Championship.

The Tricolor boss pushed back against the claim that his team was “gifted” the goals in the match, specifically referring to the rival defense’s giveaway while playing out from the back late in the first half (which led to Luciano’s goal) and Matheuzinho’s own goal almost in stoppage time of the second half.

“The goal that was given to us, as you said, came from high pressing. It was not given. That mistake was forced by pressure in the attacking half. As for whether the changes were late or not, it was a moment when, as a coach, I felt I shouldn’t make them. That’s part of my choices as a coach. I thought a change could make the game dangerous,” he said.

Regarding the result, Roger lamented the team’s drop in performance in the second half, which allowed the team from the east side of the city to score twice in less than ten minutes and virtually seal the win.

“These are things that have happened repeatedly. In important matches we haven’t come back with the same level of focus we had at the end of the first half, and that has cost us some points. These are things we need to fix. We know every home team will apply pressure, and we have to know how to use what we planned. In the first 10, 15 minutes we had some good balls in behind; we need to come back more focused so we don’t give the opponent what they want,” he analyzed.

The coach also highlighted some points of concern for the rest of the season.

“What worried me were the moments when we tried to play, not only because of the opponent’s quality, but also those moments when we handed them the ball. By not taking good care of the ball or making mistakes that, at this level of match, we cannot make, because we are facing an opponent playing at home, with its fans behind it, and one that will press in those situations,” he added.

Despite everything, Tricolor ends the match still in the Copa Libertadores qualification zone: it is temporarily in fourth place with 24 points, but could be overtaken.

São Paulo returns to action in the Brasileirão at 8:30 p.m. (Brasília time) on Saturday (16), against Fluminense, at the Maracanã. Before that, however, it has the decisive second leg of the fifth round of the Copa do Brasil against Juventude, also away from home, at 7 p.m. (Brasília time) on Wednesday (13). After the 1-0 win in the first leg, a draw will send the team through to the round of 16.

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