São Paulo draws 1-1 against América-MG.
The team maintained the 1-0 lead until the 40th minute of the second half and almost took second place in the Brazilian Championship.
São Paulo came close to taking second place in the Brazilian Championship. Despite playing very poorly, they managed to take a 1-0 lead against América-MG in the 40th minute of the second half. But they conceded an equalizer in the next play, with a beautiful bicycle kick from Kempes, and had to settle for a 1-1 draw on Thursday night at Arena do Jacaré, in the 17th round.
With the draw, São Paulo reached 33 points and surpassed Vasco on goal difference. Had they won, they would have also overtaken Flamengo, who have 34. They also missed the chance to open up a seven-point lead over Palmeiras and Botafogo in the fight for a Libertadores spot. América is bottom of the table with 12 points.
Already accustomed to playing without Lucas, who is constantly called up for the national team, São Paulo will be without its main player for the derby against Palmeiras on Sunday at 16 pm at Morumbi Stadium. This is because, even though he was already on a yellow card, Lucas fouled Dudu from behind while trying to steal the ball in attack during the first half, received his third yellow card, and will serve a suspension.
THE GAME - Not that São Paulo has been playing well, but the team's first half on Thursday managed to be their worst in a long time. Inexplicable misplaced passes, players occupying the same area of the field, a lack of purpose, and the result was 45 minutes that left fans worried about the team's future this season.
The only decent play from the Tricolor team came in the 3rd minute. Cícero went to the byline, rolled the ball back, Lucas made a dummy run, and Rivaldo struck the ball with the inside of his foot, hitting the left post of Neneca's goal. And that was it.
Rivaldo, Cícero, Carlinhos Paraíba, Dagoberto, and Lucas formed a line in front of América's penalty area. There was no space for long passes, for the full-backs to arrive, nor anyone in the area to serve as a reference point. Constantly colliding, the Tricolor players created nothing and also made too many misplaced passes.
América-MG also lacked the footballing ability to impress. However, they were more dangerous than São Paulo on the flanks. In the 34th minute, after a ball was lifted into the area, Micão headed it towards the ground and Rogério made an excellent save. Rodriguinho picked up the rebound, shot powerfully, but sent it wide to the left.
In the second half, São Paulo realized that Neneca was insecure when coming off his line and began to overuse crosses into the box. This temporary solution to the lack of quality in passing allowed São Paulo to improve their game, eventually dominating the match. Lucas, who had been very quiet in the first half, also contributed significantly to São Paulo's improvement.
The fans missed having a playmaker and insisted on Cañete coming on, but Adilson substituted Fernandinho for Dagoberto. With the speedster's typical play, always dribbling to the left and going to the byline, São Paulo became even more dangerous. The problem shifted from creating chances to finishing.
Even so, they opened the scoring. In the 40th minute, Marlos (who replaced Rivaldo) crossed low and Wellington stumbled over the ball in the middle of the six-yard box. The defense cleared it off the line, but the rebound fell to Marlos, who shot into the net. Two minutes later, after a throw-in, Carlinhos headed the ball back and Kempes scored a beautiful bicycle kick goal.