São Paulo disappoint in derby, creative woes trouble Roger | OneFootball

São Paulo disappointed its fans by being defeated once again by Palmeiras. With a lackluster performance, Tricolor lost to their green-clad rivals 1-0 last Saturday at Morumbis, in the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship. Missing one of their main offensive players, the home team was ineffective and did not trouble the opposing goalkeeper.

São Paulo lacking creativity

Coach Roger Machado fielded São Paulo with the best he had available. Lucas Ramon returned to the starting lineup at right-back after being rested in the previous round, while Cauly was chosen to replace Lucas Moura, who fractured two ribs and will be out for the next few weeks. He was tasked with linking the midfield and the attack.

However, São Paulo didn’t even have time to settle into the game. In the fifth minute, Flaco López received the ball in midfield and, with a long pass, broke down the home team’s defensive system, finding Arias alone on the right side. The Tricolor defense was slow to regroup, Lucas Ramon and Bobadilla failed to coordinate their marking, and the Colombian had all the time and space in the world to carry the ball and shoot from the edge of the box.

After Palmeiras’ goal, São Paulo needed to find a way not to lose complete control of the match. Roger Machado’s team tried to keep more possession and drew strength from the support of the fans to win individual duels and recover so-called ‘second balls’. In the first 20 minutes, however, the players lacked precision in the final third, whether in passes or crosses.

São Paulo was unable to create or pose any threat to Palmeiras’ goal. Tricolor was imprecise and, despite a slight improvement, did not create any clear chances and did not trouble the opposing defense. The team also lacked depth, rarely reaching the byline. Furthermore, every attack from the rival seemed like a ‘God help us’ moment, with São Paulo’s full-backs struggling in defense. Allan caused a lot of danger down the left side.

It was only in the 39th minute that São Paulo had its first shot of the derby. This was far too little for a team that controlled possession and had the support of its home crowd. In short, Tricolor’s first half was extremely slow and discouraging: they conceded an early goal, suffered from several Palmeiras attacks, and were unable to show any creativity in attack.

Repeat of the first half

Back after the break, Roger Machado made three changes to the players who had been most ineffective in the first half. Wendell, Arboleda, and Tapia came on, which changed São Paulo’s playing style a bit. Luciano dropped deeper to play more as a number 10 in place of Cauly, who was invisible in the derby, while Calleri and Tapia formed the attacking duo.

Just like at the end of the first half, São Paulo had control and possession, but still failed to threaten Palmeiras’ goal. The coach’s changes gave Tricolor more depth, but the players’ lack of precision persisted and the opposing defense prevailed. Even so, the home team gained greater defensive stability and managed to prevent the rival’s attacks.

The rest of the second half was more of the same. São Paulo relied heavily on crosses and corners into the box, but Palmeiras’ defense cleared many balls, while Carlos Miguel also did his part. Tricolor was very uncreative and could not find solutions to break through the low block set up by the rival in the second half.

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Sector becomes a headache for Roger

The creative sector proved inefficient against a Palmeiras side that knew how to defend. With little depth and positional changes — Marcos Antônio, for example, started drifting to the left at a certain point — São Paulo couldn’t even threaten the rival. Now, the headache is all Roger Machado’s, who will have the FIFA break to find solutions in Lucas Moura’s absence.

Standings situation

With this result, São Paulo suffered its second straight defeat in the Brazilian Championship and remained in second place with 16 points, but could still lose the runner-up spot if Bahia wins against Remo away from home this Sunday.

A Flamengo win by two or more goals would also knock São Paulo out of second place. The Rubro-Negro faces Corinthians, also on Sunday, at Neo Química Arena.

São Paulo’s upcoming matches

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