São Paulo win at home, capitalise on Botafogo’s struggles | OneFootball

By Thais Bueno

São Paulo did their homework and took advantage of Botafogo's clear difficulties to win last Sunday's match 1-0 at Morumbi, for the 23rd round of the Brazilian Championship. The Tricolor was efficient and scored with Dinenno, early in the game, and knew how to play with the result under their belt.

São Paulo started with the same formation as the last games, but with a novelty in the defense: Rafael Tolói re-debuted leaning more to the right side, with Alan Franco playing the role of central defender and Sabino on the left. What caught the eye, however, was the attacking duo chosen by Crespo: Tapia and Dinenno.

And the choice of the Argentine commander, questioned by fans on social media, quickly proved to be correct. Pablo Maia passed to Rodriguinho, who found a pass for Enzo Díaz. The Argentine carried and crossed the ball at mid-height to the small area. Dinenno showed opportunism and used the 'instinct' of a center forward, completing for the goal and opening the score for the explosion of the crowd at Morumbi.

Having the advantage on the scoreboard, São Paulo began to play with greater tranquility at Morumbi, betting mainly on the intensity of the marking and quick transitions. Botafogo, on the other hand, also had their moments and sought to disturb the tricolor defense, but without much success in the final third of the field.

The Tricolor, like Botafogo, made many mistakes, especially in the central sector of the field. The São Paulo defense, on the other hand, compensated for some problems, being essential through disarms and interceptions. The most creative part of São Paulo left a little to be desired. Rodriguinho had to drop back a lot to get the ball, for example.

Despite the little offensive inspiration in the first stage, São Paulo behaved well defensively and took advantage of the technical errors of the Glorious, who sinned - and a lot - in the precision of the last pass. The tricolor team was efficient, found its goal early in the match and knew how to play the game, taking a 1-0 advantage to the break.

Crespo's team started the second half taking over the main actions in the offensive field and almost scored the second goal in a good plot that ended in Tapia's finish. In sequence, the Tricolor attacked Botafogo again and scored the second, but the Chilean was offside. There were much more exciting minutes from the São Paulo team in terms of creation.

Crespo also made some changes that renewed São Paulo's breath on the field. Marcos Antônio's entry gave more control to the tricolor midfield, while Rigoni's re-debut gave more movement and triangulation to the team's attack, especially forming a duo with Tapia, a very mobile forward.

The Tricolor began to create more, especially in quick transitions, taking advantage of the spaces behind Botafogo's defense in counterattacks. However, the final pass was missing to convert the good plays into goals. Rigoni even missed a great face-to-face opportunity and could have killed the game.

São Paulo, especially after the changes, totally controlled the match. The Tricolor counted on Botafogo's low effectiveness, it's true, but knew how to hold the advantage on the scoreboard. Rafael had to make some interventions, but was not so demanded. The Tricolor, thus, showed that they did their homework and made another victim at Morumbi.

Situation in the Brazilian Championship table

With the result, São Paulo returned to winning in the Brasileirão after losing to Cruzeiro in the last round. The São Paulo Tricolor remained in seventh position due to tiebreaker criteria, but stuck to the G6, equaling Botafogo's 35 points.

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