São Paulo heroic: beat Fortaleza, end droughts before Palmeiras derby | OneFootball

Tranquility, certainly, is not a word that has been part of the São Paulo fan's dictionary in recent times. And, playing with one man down for over 70 minutes, the Tricolor had to sweat more than it should have. But they managed to write epic lines by defeating Fortaleza 2-0, away from home, ending their winless and goalless streak.

The drought against the Ceará opponent also ended, a team São Paulo hadn't been able to beat for an uncomfortable five years.

This, even with an improvised defense due to absences. Even with a brand-new attack featuring Tapia and Rigoni, who, before the match, did not inspire a shred of confidence in the fans, and played because of Hernán Crespo's decision to rest Luciano and Ferreirinha.

On the night of this Thursday (2), once again the Tricolor fans were reminded that the current phase does not allow the Morumbi club to breathe easier, to have a match where they achieve a good result with some tranquility and authority, and above all, to leave with a sense of confidence.

At Castelão, in the Brazilian Championship, it took just ten minutes for the feeling of happiness to return. That was when Tapia, with a bit of opportunism inside the box, converted a low cross from Rigoni and opened the scoring, ending São Paulo's four-game streak without scoring a goal.

But the feeling that things were under control didn't last long, not at all. Because nine minutes later, Rigoni, who was surprisingly one of the best on the field, arrived late in a challenge and ended up hitting Deyverson with more force than he should have. VAR called, and the referee sent the Argentine off.

That was the end of any sense of tranquility for the Tricolor fans, who saw their game plan implode with one man down, completely lost their already deficient ball distribution, and held on as best they could, relying much more on the opponent's shortcomings—who, in poor form, couldn't organize their attack—than necessarily on the merits of the improvised defense.

In the second half, the patched-up Tricolor continued to rely much more on a reactive game, closing their full-backs into a five-man defensive line and holding out against the inefficiency of the home team, who, despite the changes, still couldn't create clear chances to equalize and made life easier for the São Paulo side in the Northeast.

Disorganized, Fortaleza started pushing forward in a disorderly manner, leaving spaces for São Paulo, who kept insisting on direct transitions as a solution to regain possession. And that's how the deal was sealed: in the 39th minute, Enzo Díaz, playing as a left midfielder, received a pass inside the box unmarked and simply rolled it to Luciano, who, with the goalkeeper beaten, tapped it into the net to score the second goal.

Another drought ended: this time for the number 10, who hadn't found the net since July 24 and had faced criticism from fans for missed chances in the Copa Libertadores elimination.

With a night of overcoming and memories that will last for a long time, São Paulo reaches 38 points and reduces its gap to the Libertadores qualification zone to two points, even with one game in hand compared to sixth-placed Bahia.

Revitalized by this somewhat heroic result, the Tricolor renews its energy for another important decision: the classic against rivals Palmeiras, their next fixture in the Brasileirão, at 4 p.m. (Brasília time) this Sunday (5), at Morumbi.

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