São Paulo, despite playing poor football, leads the Brazilian Championship.

By Márcio Kroehn_247 – São Paulo is a strange league leader. With three wins in three matches, the team hasn't played a single good game in this Brasileirão. These were three hard-fought and even unfair victories. This one, against Atlético-MG, was no different. São Paulo entered the field with the clear intention of playing on the counter-attack. Four defensive midfielders (Rodrigo Souto, Wellington, Carlinhos Paraíba, and Casemiro) and only Lucas and Dagoberto isolated up front. Atlético-MG started the game pressing. The Minas Gerais team had a lot of space to work the ball in their attacking half and tried to push São Paulo back into their own area. But Atlético's pressure didn't yield results. Not even against the referee: the team appealed for three penalties in the first half. At 12 minutes, Magno Alves attempted a play and threw himself in front of Rodrigo Souto; At 29 minutes, Patric, who was exploiting the space on the left flank for São Paulo, dribbled past three players but chose to fall instead of shooting (the initial impression is that he was fouled); at 46 minutes, in another great play by Patric, defender Xandão cleared the ball practically from inside the goal, and on the rebound, Magno Alves' shot was deflected by Luiz Eduardo, who, sliding, grazed the ball with his hand. Incredibly, these were Atlético's best chances. São Paulo's defense was more dangerous. At 21 minutes, two young players from São Paulo's youth academy put the team ahead. Wellington advanced and passed to Casemiro who, from the edge of the penalty area, placed the ball in the top right corner of goalkeeper Renan's net. Three minutes later, Dagoberto spotted Casemiro in the middle, who passed to Lucas who turned at the edge of the penalty area and shot. But the ball hit the defense and went out for a corner. At 39 and 43 minutes, Lucas had two chances. In the first instance, a somewhat awkward pass to Dagoberto left him unmarked inside the penalty area. Facing the goalkeeper, his weak right-footed shot deflected off a defender. In another opportunity, his shot was deflected by Richarlyson and the ball hit the crossbar.

The first half had been very strange. The defending team was the most dangerous, and the attacking team complained the most. Something was wrong with the football. For the second half, coach Dorival Júnior brought on the young talent Neto Berola to push São Paulo even further back into defense. And it worked. Until the 29th minute, the São Paulo team didn't attack. Atlético pressed, tried, and forced the São Paulo defense to kick the ball away. Richarlyson, at 20 minutes, forced a good save from goalkeeper Rogério Ceni. At 25 minutes, Leonardo Silva made a beautiful diving header in the six-yard box and hit the crossbar. The São Paulo players seemed very satisfied with the 1-0 lead, but coach Paulo Cesar Carpegiani wasn't. He tried to shake up the team's motivation: he took off Casemiro and Lucas, brought on Bruno Uvini and Marlos; then Dagoberto came off and William came on. It didn't work very well. Atlético continued their attack, but the pressure remained high. From corner kicks to dribbles, in every attempt, Atlético came close. At 43 minutes, Richarlyson shot, Rogério parried, and on the rebound, the goalkeeper dove at the feet of the opponent to prevent the goal – it was Rogério Ceni's 100th consecutive game for São Paulo. It wasn't Atlético's day. The victory put São Paulo in sole possession of the lead in the Brazilian Championship, with 9 points in three games.