Atlético lose to São Paulo, poor run continues in the Brasileirão | OneFootball

This Sunday (24th), Atlético suffered its 7th defeat in the Brazilian Championship. Playing in the capital of São Paulo, at Morumbis, the team from Minas Gerais lost to São Paulo by 2-0 in a match that was largely dominated by the home team. The goals of the match were scored by Pablo Maia and Tapia.

With this result, Galo dropped one position in the standings, overtaken by Corinthians, and ends the round in 12th place. São Paulo, with the 3 points earned, is now 7th, with 32 points.

Atlético returns to the field next Wednesday (27th), when they host Cruzeiro at Arena MRV, for the first leg of the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM. As for the Brasileirão, their next match is only on Sunday (31st), in Salvador, against Vitória.

LINEUP

Atlético took the field with some changes. Considering the tough schedule the team has been facing, competing in 3 tournaments, Cuca decided to make some adjustments, giving opportunities to some players who had not been starting. Some examples were Fausto Vera, Caio, Júnior Santos, and Reinier.

Thus, Galo took the field with:

THE MATCH

The first half at Morumbis saw few clear goal opportunities and a lot of contest between the two teams. Advantage went to São Paulo, who managed to get close to Everson’s goal twice and scored once.

Atlético actually started the match well, giving little space to the opposing team, who struggled to create. But the first time they got through, the São Paulo side found the net. At 22 minutes, Pablo Maia received from Bobadilla, entered the box, and fired a strong shot, leaving Everson with no chance.

The other chance for São Paulo fell to Ferreirinha, who, face-to-face with Everson, shot hard, but was stopped by a great save from the Atlético goalkeeper.

Galo’s best chance came with Rony, with a shot from outside the box, but the ball hit the side netting. In stoppage time of the first half, Vitor Hugo even managed to score an equalizer, but the goal was disallowed due to the Atlético defender being offside.

After halftime, Atlético made a change. Cuca took off Reinier and brought on Alexsander.

The change had no effect and, unlike recent matches where Galo improved in the second half, the team was even more dominated by São Paulo. Hernán Crespo’s side showed great superiority, more possession, and more clear chances to score.

And at 35 minutes, the goal that sealed the defeat came. In a beautiful play by São Paulo, Luciano backheeled to Cédric. The full-back entered the box and crossed perfectly for Tapia, who, unmarked, headed into the empty net.

In the final minutes, Atlético tried to apply some pressure and even hit Rafael’s crossbar with a free kick from Gustavo Scarpa. But that was it!

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