São Paulo qualified without any surprises for the third phase of the Copa do Brasil. In front of their fans, Rogério Ceni’s team controlled Manaus and left the field with a 2-0 victory, goals from Eder and Diego Costa.
The result was built in the first half. Owner of the ball from the first minutes, São Paulo went to the nets in the 34th minute, with Eder. Eight minutes later, Diego Costa gave the final numbers to the match. The initial stage still had time for a quick blackout in Morumbi, which was without light for 20 seconds.
The opponent of the third phase of the Copa do Brasil will only be known on March 28, in the draw to be held by the CBF. Until then, the team turns its attention to the final phase of Paulistão.
Next Saturday (19), São Paulo will face Botafogo-SP, at home, in the closing of the first phase of the competition. Already classified, Rogério Ceni’s team will face São Bernardo in the quarterfinals. The single game will be held at Morumbi, on a date yet to be confirmed.
Manaus will also now worry about the state tournament. The team is in the quarterfinals of Amazonense. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, the team will host Manaura on Sunday (20), for the quarterfinals.
Live from Sao Paulo
Who did well: Eder
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The striker has increasingly established himself in the starting lineup of São Paulo. Cast as a man of reference against Manaus, Eder positioned himself well to take advantage of Rafinha’s cross kick and open the scoring. Without the ball, he was one of the most attentive. At the beginning of the second half, he ran to the midfield to disarm an opposing player, to the delight of the Morumbi crowd.
Who was bad: Pedro Henrique
The Manaus goalkeeper was not directly blamed for either goal, but he narrowly missed and was the protagonist of a more elastic score. Still in the first half, Pedro Henrique left the goal twice clumsy to try to intercept crosses and gave São Paulo chances to swing the net.
Ceni takes the best in the duel against a scheduled rebar
Both teams went to Morumbi with declared strategies to try to win. Manaus coach Evaristo Piza said more than once that his team would bet on a strong marking to try to surprise São Paulo on the counterattack. That way, the ball would stay practically all the time with the tricolor team.
If he was going to have possession, Ceni opted for less marking. He has two attacking full-backs, Rafinha and Reinaldo, and two defenders with good starts for the game (Léo and Diego Costa), leaving the experienced Arboleda and Miranda on the bench. In the attack, Marquinhos was selected along with Nikão and Eder to try to open up Manaus.
The match went exactly as planned. Manaus closed in from the first minute and left the ball with São Paulo. The hosts ended the initial stage with 75% possession of the ball and 13 shots, six of them in Pedro Henrique’s goal, who showed insecurity in the high exits.
Goal eases and facilitates São Paulo’s dominance
Keeping the ball has been a problem for São Paulo at the start of the season. Rogério Ceni’s team had difficulties to pierce outbacks in Paulistão and left some matches with a high number of crosses and no goals.
In front of Manaus, the team started slow in the distribution of plays, making it easier for the visitors to hit the mark. In the 34th minute, relief came. Nikão accelerated the game opening the ball to Rafinha on the right. The side hit a cross and Eder, in the middle of the area, deflected to the back of Manaus’ nets.
The only scare in the first half came four minutes after the goal. After a corner kick, Alvinho was face to face with Jandrei, but stopped in the good exit of the São Paulo goalkeeper.
Four minutes later, São Paulo reassured the crowd once and for all. Reinaldo took a corner and Diego Costa rose more than the Manaus defense to head the second goal for Tricolor.
Luan returns after five months
The tranquility on the scoreboard allowed Rogério Ceni to give minutes to midfielder Luan. Without entering the field for five months because of a rare muscle injury suffered in the first training session commanded by the coach last year, shirt 8 replaced Reinaldo in the 37th minute of the second half.
This was the first time that Luan played under the command of Rogério Ceni. He had been listed for the matches against América-MG, for last year’s Brasileirão, and Mirassol, last weekend, but accompanied both from the bench.
Morumbi turns off for 20 seconds
São Paulo was already winning 2-0 when the lights at Morumbi went out completely. There were about 20 seconds of blackout, which made the crowd use their cell phones to light the stands. When the lights came back on, the stands cheered and the ball started rolling again.
According to São Paulo, the problem was in the Morumbi neighborhood, in the south of São Paulo. The region often suffers from rapid blackouts on rainy days.
DATASHEET:
SÃO PAULO 2 x 0 MANAUS
Reason: 2nd round of the Copa do Brasil
Date and time: March 16, 2022 (Wednesday), at 9:30 pm (Brasília time)
Local: Morumbi Stadium, in São Paulo (SP)
Public: 17,644 people
Income: R$ 526.780.00
Referee: Daniel Nobre Bins (RS)
Auxiliaries: Michael Stanislau and Andre da Silva Bitencourt (both RS)
goals: Eder (34’/1ºT) and Diego Costa (42’/1ºT), for São Paulo
Yellow cards: –
red cards: –
SAO PAULO: Jandrei; Rafinha, Diego Costa, Léo, Reinaldo (Luan); Pablo Maia (Alisson), Andrés Colorado (Rigoni), Rodrigo Nestor; Nikão (Luciano), Marquinhos (Patrick) and Eder. Coach: Rogério Ceni.
MANAUS: Pedro Henrique; Cordeiro (Jack Chan), Claudinho, Paulo Sérgio, Renan; Gutierrez, Felipe Baiano, Paranhos (Jefferson); Thiaguinho (Vitinho), Silvano (Toninho) and Alvinho (Juninho Palmares). Coach: Evaristo Piza
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