Ferreirinha hat-trick gives Roger relief as São Paulo thrash Cruzeiro | OneFootball

Roger Machado was emphatic after São Paulo’s draw with Internacional in midweek: he liked seeing the team play with two wide wingers and had in mind adopting that system going forward.

Well then, under pressure in his position, the coach did not wait to repeat what he had taken as a positive lesson. And he was rewarded on Saturday night (4), when the very two wide wingers he had selected ended up deciding the match against Cruzeiro at Morumbi, in the clash valid for the 10th round of the Brazilian Championship.

With three goals from Ferreirinha and one from Calleri, converted after a penalty won by Artur, “Machadismo” delivered its best performance so far and secured a 4-1 thrashing of an opponent that has historically run into adversity at the Tricolor’s home.

A result that obviously does not completely ease the coach’s situation with the fans, but at least brings a bit of peace to Morumbi, ending a run of three matches without a win. A lot for a team that once held sole possession of the lead in the country’s main competition.

The Tricolor now reaches 20 points and occupies, at least temporarily, second place, two behind rival Palmeiras.

Good news, without a doubt, on a day that began in turmoil with a crisis erupting behind the scenes. Unhappy with being on the bench and with losing space under the new coach, Arboleda committed a serious act of indiscipline and decided to travel to Ecuador on his own.

It could have been the spark for a major fire, but the night began positively for São Paulo. As early as the 8th minute, Marcos Antônio played Artur into the box. He tried to turn past his marker and ended up being brought down by Villalba. Penalty awarded and converted by Calleri.

Less than five minutes later came the second: in an excellent attacking transition, Artur led the counterattack and delivered a perfectly weighted pass for Ferreirinha to burst into the area and finish past Matheus Cunha to extend São Paulo’s lead.

The impression was of a dominant night, but the pace of the match dropped. São Paulo began to attack less, and Cruzeiro finally managed to settle into the game, finding ways forward, though still without any real purpose or quality.

The pressure from the Minas Gerais side, which at the end of the first half had resulted in good saves from Rafael, only materialized after the break, right on the first play, when Arroyo broke into the box, humiliatingly dribbled past Dória and sent in a perfect cross for Christian to redirect into the net at the far post.

Tricolor hearts were already filling with anguish, but in the 16th minute Ferreirinha proved that the night really belonged to São Paulo. After an inswinging corner into the area from Artur, Kaio Jorge nearly scored an own goal as he tried to clear it, hitting the crossbar, and on the rebound the São Paulo winger simply fired home to put the result beyond doubt.

The goal once and for all demolished any aspirations from Cruzeiro on the pitch. And unlike in the first half, São Paulo kept playing incisively, creating good chances and keeping the ball more consistently in the attacking half, sealing three important points on Easter round weekend.

Back to winning ways, São Paulo now returns to Brasileirão action only on the afternoon of next Saturday (11), against Vitória, in Salvador (BA). Before that, they open their Copa Sudamericana campaign against Boston River at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) on Tuesday (7), in Uruguay.

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