After firing Thiago Carpinio São Paulo won his first points in the Brasileirão this Sunday. Under the eyes of its new coach, Argentine Luis Zubeldía, the tricolor team took advantage of Atlético Goianiense’s weaknesses and mistakes to win 3-0 away from home and celebrate their first victory in the championship. They were from Calleri, Luciano e Ferreira the goals that guaranteed the peaceful triumph in Goiânia.
With three points, São Paulo improves its position in the Brasileirão table. Now it’s 14th. Atlético-GO lost the first three matches and continues without scoring. Along with Cuiabá, they have the worst campaign in the competition.
Milton Cruz, assistant to the fixed committee who temporarily took over the team in Goiânia, decided to arm the team with three defenders. In the first clash without Carpini, the team behaved well, especially in the mental aspect. He seemed lighter, without the pressure he used to have and he played freely. He didn’t give the best of his performances, but he didn’t need to, because Atlético-GO made a lot of mistakes, had two sent off, committed a stupid penalty and made life easier for the São Paulo team.
São Paulo dominated most of the initial stage and opened the scoring early, which left them calm. In the 13th minute, André Silva placed the ball on Calleri’s head, who saved it. The visitors defended competently and prevented the Goiás team from finding spaces between the three defenders, so much so that goalkeeper Rafael did little work.
In the second half, Luiz Felipe decided to make the scenario even more favorable for São Paulo. The Atlético-GO defender hit Luciano in the face with his elbow and was sent off. Bráulio da Silva Machado didn’t see the move, but VAR did. The referee went to the monitor to confirm that the video referee was right. He presented the red to the defender and signaled the penalty. Luciano hit the corner and increased the score.
Calleri celebrates his goal against Atlético Goianiense Photo: Rubens Chiri/São Paulo FC
Calmly, São Paulo didn’t even need to try very hard to attack. Atlético itself made mistakes and made life easier for the visitors. After Luiz Felipe, it was Gabriel Barros’s turn to be sent off. The striker from the most undisciplined team in the Brasileirão received a second yellow card after a not-so-harsh foul on Pablo Maia. In their debut against Flamengo, the Goiânia team had already had two expelled.
Contaminated by expulsions, the match was extremely easy for São Paulo, who scored the third goal, the most beautiful of them, with Ferreira. The striker dribbled at speed and finished in the left corner to seal São Paulo’s triumph in the capital of Goiás, which gives encouragement to the squad and pleases the new commander.
Zubeldía was in the stands at the Antonio Accioly Stadium and saw the victory up close. This week, the coach begins work at the Barra Funda CT. The debut will be against Barcelona de Guayaquil, in Ecuador, in the Libertadores, next Thursday.
ATLÉTICO-GO 0 X 3 SÃO PAULO
- ATLÉTICO-GO: Ronaldo; Bruno Tubarão, Luiz Felipe, Alix VInícius and Guilherme Romão; Roni (Rhaldney), Baralhas (Lucas Kal), Alejo Cruz (Gabriel Barros); Shaylon, Emiliano Rodríguez (Max) and Luiz Fernando (Maguinho). Coach: Jair Ventura.
- SÃO PAULO: Rafael; Arboleda, Alan Franco (Rodrigo Nestor) and Diego Costa; Igor Vinícius, Pablo Maia (Michel Araújo), Alisson (Bobadilla), Luciano (Galoppo) and Wellington; Calleri and André Silva. Coach: Milton Cruz (interim).
- GOALS: Calleri, at 13 in the first half. Luciano, at seven, and Ferreira, at 30 in the second half.
- REFEREE: Bráulio da Silva Machado.
- YELLOW CARDS: Roni, Baralhas, Luiz Fernando
- RED CARD: Luiz Felipe and Gabriel Barros,
- AUDIENCE: 9,017 fans.
- INCOME: R$ 763,180.00.
- LOCATION: Antônio Accioly Stadium, in Goiânia.e34r