São Paulo lose to Ceará amid protests, pressure mounts | OneFootball

São Paulo's bad phase seems to have no end in sight.

On a Monday (29) that already started off strange, with rumors of internal disagreements in the management and protests from the club's largest organized fan group, Hernán Crespo's team didn't seem to have any greater motivations to bounce back from their elimination in the Copa Libertadores.

And in a nearly empty Morumbi, as hadn't been seen in a long time (the little over 12,000 paying attendees marked the lowest attendance of the year at the stadium), the tricolor team was an easy prey for Ceará, who won 1-0 tonight, in the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. It's another negative milestone, as the northeastern rival had NEVER defeated Tricolor in São Paulo's capital.

If the goal was to give some comfort to the disgruntled São Paulo fans, Crespo's team saw the plan backfire. With the result, they have one win and only one goal scored in the last six games, laying bare the problems and internal crisis at Morumbi.

It was a performance far from being considered even satisfactory. Once again apathetic, as they were against LDU last week, São Paulo spent most of the time with unproductive ball possession, unable to deliver the final pass to create more conclusive goal chances.

Without a natural center forward (again Crespo bet on an attack with Ferreirinha and Luciano in his untouchable three-defender scheme), the tricolor team was an easy prey for Ceará's efficient marking when trying to build through the middle. And the attempts with crosses into the area proved useless given the ineffective productivity of the offensive sector in that regard.

There were only shots from outside the area left. And that's how the fans found some solace, with São Paulo's main chances in the game. Twice the team almost scored. At 39 minutes of the first half, Rodriguinho hit the crossbar after receiving the ball from a free kick. At the start of the second half, it was Ferreirinha's turn to hit the right post of the opposing goalkeeper after clearing the marking in the midfield area.

But it was little, very little, for a slow and spaced team that, with its high defensive lines, allowed the northeastern opponent to appear on the counterattack. Things got worse just 30 minutes into the game when Rafael Tolói left the field feeling his left thigh, dismantling the game plan (even if it wasn't that efficient anyway).

Better for Ceará, who scored their goal 10 minutes into the second half. Alisson made a wrong cut on a pass attempt and ended up assisting Pedro Henrique, who controlled the ball, invaded the area, dribbled Rafael, and shot firmly into the net.

In the rest of the second half, Lucas came onto the field, and the team even increased its pressure in the midfield, but once again the attack proved unproductive, with the added issue of Ceará further increasing their reactive approach. Time was passing, and the fans only moved to boo and curse President Julio Casares again. Lucky for him, the stands were empty this time...

In injury time, Ceará almost had time to increase São Paulo's embarrassment. At 48 minutes of the second half, Guilherme broke away on a counterattack, invaded the area, and fell in a collision with Sabino. The referee awarded a penalty, but after being advised by VAR, he overturned the decision.

In terms of standings, speaking of risk, the result changes little in the scenario. São Paulo is isolated in seventh position and was not at risk of being overtaken. However, speaking of objectives, things become more difficult, because with 35 points, Tricolor sees the gap to Bahia, the sixth-placed team and the last in the qualifying zone for the next Libertadores, widen to five points.

Picking up the pieces, the club now faces a marathon this week. On Thursday (10/2), they face Fortaleza at 7:30 PM (Brasília time), away from home. On Sunday (10/5), they have the classic against rival Palmeiras, again at Morumbi.

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