São Paulo beat heavy Canindé pitch, go top of Brasileirão | OneFootball

It was the night Roger Machado wanted…

Severely criticized by the fans after being announced as the replacement for the dismissed Hernán Crespo, São Paulo’s new coach knows he depends on good results to win over the tricolor hearts.

And at least the first step towards that was taken this Thursday (12th).

Tactical structure and lineup weren’t the only things that barely changed. The quality of São Paulo’s play remained the same. And the team beat Chapecoense 2-0 at Canindé.

As if a little joy wasn’t enough, another big message of the night came from Rio de Janeiro (RJ), where Vasco defeated Palmeiras at São Januário.

In other words, as a result, Tricolor can now celebrate: they are the sole leaders of the Brazilian Championship. They remain unbeaten in the competition, with 13 points, three more than their green rival and Fluminense.

The game started off a bit sour for São Paulo, as the field, heavy from the persistent rain that fell on Portuguesa’s stadium, was too much for the drainage system. For almost 30 minutes, the Morumbi club was pressed by the visitors, finding themselves boxed in.

But that was it. After the hydration break (yes, even with rain), the tricolor team managed to turn things around. And the goal seemed just a matter of time.

After at least four excellent chances still in the first half, São Paulo would only score in the second half. Right in the first play, Marcos Antônio made a beautiful cross for Luciano, who headed it in to score.

At the 14th minute, when Chapecoense was already on the ropes, things were settled. Marcos Antônio, again, found a beautiful pass to Luciano, who set it up for Bobadilla coming from behind. The Paraguayan masterfully, instead of finishing, played a short pass to Calleri in the box, who shot it into the net.

With the lead on the scoreboard and an opponent feeling the blow, the rest of the game was about ball control and running down the clock. Not without two curious incidents first. After the light from one of the floodlights went out, it was the turn of Chapecoense’s goal net to fall. At least it broke the monotony (not that a shot off the post by Bobadilla and a disallowed goal by Marcos Antônio hadn’t already done enough)…

The leader of the Brasileirão now tries to keep up the good run at 8:30 p.m. (Brasília time) on Sunday (15th), against Bragantino, away from home.

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