São Paulo stuck in a rut, undone by their own mistakes | OneFootball

After the resignation of Julio Casares, the São Paulo fans arrived at Morumbis with a lighter spirit last Wednesday. However, what had all the makings of a great day ended up becoming yet another disappointment. Tricolor once again suffocated under its own individual mistakes and lost 3-2 at home to Portuguesa in the fourth round of the Paulista Championship. The team was once again haunted by inconsistency. Even taking into account the rotation promoted by Hernán Crespo, the team seems unable to move forward.

Inconsistent São Paulo

Crespo sent out an alternative São Paulo lineup, giving Dória his debut in defense and bringing Calleri, recovered from a serious injury, back to the starting eleven. The attack gained mobility with Lucca and Ferreirinha as starters. What was seen in the opening minutes, however, was a very balanced and hard-fought match. Portuguesa had more possession, with Tricolor making some mistakes in their build-up play.

Given this scenario, it was São Paulo who had the chance to counterattack and created a good opportunity in just this way. Anyone expecting a defensive Portuguesa was mistaken. It was Lusa who dominated the main actions of the game in the first 20 minutes. Tricolor left gaps and was disorganized in marking. There was a lack of connection between the sectors.

After the hydration break, São Paulo seemed to wake up to the game. Hernán Crespo's team started to press and force mistakes from Portuguesa, creating danger twice in less than five minutes, with shots from Lucca and Ferreirinha. The match became livelier, with both teams more alert on the field.

In the final stretch of the first half, Tricolor let the pace drop again and saw Portuguesa shoot twice on goal. Rafael was decisive and saved both. Overall, the first 45 minutes of the match were very balanced. São Paulo was slightly better but lacked efficiency in its clearest chances. They were not 45 brilliant minutes, and Tricolor left the impression that, if they pushed a little more, they would score. The big problem is that the same was true for Lusa.

Disorganization leads to defeat

In the second half, Crespo returned with a change in midfield to circulate the ball more and create greater volume of play: Marcos Antônio came on for Negrucci. However, Portuguesa ruined the coach's plans. This is because, after a marking error by Tolói, Renê got ahead and opened the scoring for Lusa. São Paulo then started to throw themselves into attack and left spaces for counterattacks.

Crespo saw the team's uncomfortable situation on the field and decided to make another change, bringing more firepower to the team. Luciano formed a striker duo with Calleri, while Pablo Maia left the field for Bobadilla. The change had an immediate effect, with a good play between Luciano and Ferreirinha, but Calleri mishit the ball right in front of the goal and wasted the chance.

São Paulo started to shoot with more danger and hover around Portuguesa's penalty area. However, every Portuguesa counterattack seemed to scare the disorganized Tricolor, who struggled to recover defensively. Lusa was stopped by its own offensive limitations, while the home side kept trying to equalize. In the 24th minute, Crespo made the change that would alter the game and brought on Pedro Ferreira. It was he who set up Calleri's equalizer.

After the equalizer, São Paulo went all-in, taking off Cédric Soares, a full-back, for Tapia, a striker. The atmosphere at Morumbis became more lively, but this lasted only a few minutes, as the fans quickly deflated with the penalty awarded to Portuguesa. Nicolas brought down Renê with a sliding tackle from behind in yet another quick transition by the rival.

São Paulo did not give up and even managed to score a second goal with Calleri, but there was not enough time to mount a comeback. The fact is, once again, Tricolor fell short. The team seems unable to move forward and lives in an endless cycle of stringing together a positive result only to then perform poorly and suffer hard-to-swallow defeats. Perhaps, with a new president in charge, the club can put its house in order and start seeing results on the field.

Standings

With the negative result against Portuguesa, São Paulo saw the pressure in the Paulista Championship begin to mount. The São Paulo side suffered its second defeat in the State Championship and dropped to 12th place, with the same four points as at the start of the round.

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