There was reason to believe that the São Paulo could overcome the bad phase this Saturday in the debut of Brasileirão. Those who went to MorumBis, however, saw a disorganized, unproductive and desperate team, thanks to the coach’s criticized work Thiago Carpini. O Fortaleza knew how to take advantage of the moment and built the victory in the second half, closing the score in 2 a 1.
The fans’ impatience – well justified – towards the coach systematically harms the squad. The clock, from the first minute, became an opponent for São Paulo. Obviously the responsibility for the terrible moment does not lie entirely with Carpini, but he is the one who will have to pay for it. The circumstances favored Fortaleza, who achieved their fourth positive result in a row at MorumBis for the Brasileirão.
Under Carpini, São Paulo boosted and made more robust the problems that already appeared in the final stretch of Dorival Júnior’s work. Not even changes made by the coach during matches change the dynamics. It’s a sign of exhaustion. The team fails as a collective and, as a result, the individual quality of the players decreases. One of the remaining crumbs was striker André Silva, who scored a beautiful goal.
São Paulo and Fortaleza faced each other this Saturday at MorumBis. Photo: Fortaleza EC via
São Paulo’s sterile ball possession translates into a bad phase
The match started as expected. São Paulo had more than common flaws and had difficulty overcoming Fortaleza’s good marking. The need for a convincing victory put extra pressure on the home team’s players. Even so, the offensive creations showed a more ambitious team, in order to find solutions on the field to start the Brasileirão well.
The technical quality left something to be desired in the first half. São Paulo translates its crisis into poor choices throughout the game. Possession of the ball, since the days of Dorival Júnior, has been harmless. What could be a positive factor – like in Pep Guardiola’s teams or the Spanish national team – became the focus of a chronic problem for São Paulo.
Fortaleza also did not contribute to the good development of the game. With perhaps the worst squad since the arrival of Juan Pablo Vojvoda, Pici’s team came far from disturbing the São Paulo defense. Furthermore, the first half reflected the moment of the two teams with the score at zero.
Second half awards the best trained team
After the break, Fortaleza reacted to the complacency of the first stage and became the best team on the field. Then, both teams made substitutions, but the panorama remained the same, with the visitors superior. At 21 minutes, the prize. Fortaleza built a speed play on the right, the São Paulo athletes watched the movement and did not notice Lucero’s infiltration. The Argentine received a cross in the penalty area and scored a great goal for the visitors.
After conceding the goal, São Paulo armed itself in attack and made Fortaleza more vulnerable. The team from Ceará began to strengthen its counterattacks. That’s how the second goal came. Speeding down the left, Machuca caught the defense off guard and scored another goal in the 34th minute.
At 39, São Paulo showed a reaction. André Silva, who had replaced Luciano, found space in Fortaleza’s well-positioned defense and made a beautiful shot to close the gap on the scoreboard. But it was already too late. At the final whistle, the São Paulo fans booed the team and cursed the coach.
Next games for São Paulo and Fortaleza
São Paulo returns to the field on Wednesday, at 9:30 pm, to face Flamengo, at Maracanã, in the second round of the Brasileirão. Fortaleza plays a little earlier, at 8pm, at Arena Castelão, against Cruzeiro.
SÃO PAULO 1 x 2 FORTALEZA
- SÃO PAULO: Rafael; Ferraresi, Arboleda and Diego Costa; Igor Vinícius (Erick), Pablo Maia, Alisson (Rodrigo Nestor), Galoppo (James Rodríguez) and Michel Araújo (William Gomes); Luciano (André Silva) and Calleri. Coach: Thiago Carpini.
- FORTRESS: John Richard; Britez, Kuscevic, Titi and Bruno Pacheco; Jose Welison (Lucas Sasha), Hercules (Peter Augustus), Pochettino and Yago Pikachu (Machuca); Star and Sea (Moses). Technician: John Paul Vojvoda.
- GOALS: Lucero, at 21, Machuca at 34, Adré Silva at 39 minutes of the 2nd half.
- REFEREE: Alex Gomes Stefano (RJ).
- YELLOW CARDS: Luciano, Brítez, Lucero and Pochettino.
- AUDIENCE: 35,055 fans.
- INCOME: R$ 1,836,126.00.
- LOCATION: MorumBis.