Cruzeiro beats São Paulo in a thrilling match for the Brasileirão

The Arena Independência received Cruzeiro and São Paulo on Saturday night (24), for the twelfth round of the Brazilian Championship. The confrontation was important for Tricolor Paulista, which came from an important victory in the previous round against Athlético Paranaense and could sleep within the G4, if the match ended with a positive result. On the other hand, Cabuloso had an important opportunity to redeem themselves within the competition, mainly because they had been living without a win for a month. The last triumph of the club from Minas Gerais had been in the 4-0 defeat against rival América at the beginning of May, also in the same stadium.

First time

The initial seconds of the match were decisive to define the script of the match, making Raposa put pressure on the opponent in the first moves of the confrontation. Pushed by the crowd and taking advantage of the inattention of the opposing defense, Cruzeiro reached the goal with just 2 minutes of play in the intersection of William, who was looking for Machado inside the area. In an attempt to ward off the danger, Rafinha ended up playing against his own assets, taking the zero of the scoreboard in Minas.

Five minutes after being in front, Mateus Vital made a good pass and put Wesley in front of Rafael and in the end, the Cruzeiro winger didn’t take care and lost the opportunity to increase the advantage. The first stage was busy, showing attacks from both sides, but São Paulo grew in production during the game. In Cruzeiro’s defense, Rafael Cabral proved to be the biggest name in the dispute so far. The goalkeeper made two excellent saves in the 35th minute, the first with a header by Calleri and a rebound by Rodrigo Nestor. Pablo Maia and Wellington Rato also tried to surprise in subsequent bids, but without success.

Second time

The control of the actions remained the same in the final stage, with São Paulo pressing the opposing goal from the beginning. In the first few minutes, Calleri was still looking for his goal and on two occasions he almost tied the match. The clearest among them was in the 5th minute, when the striker headed a strong header inside the area and Rafael Cabral sought the Argentinian’s conclusion with a great defense.

Cruzeiro’s attacks began to decrease over the second half, taking less risks and becoming more reactive, not letting the opponent create chances in the attack. In this context, the difficulty of overcoming the defense remained with São Paulo, which ended up losing pace. Dorival launched the team forward in desperation and Raposa continued impeccably in marking, even with many tricolor attackers. Marcos Paulo had the last attempt to beat Rafael Cabral in stoppage time, but the finish ended in the arms of the best player on the field.

The important victory ended Cruzeiro’s month-long fast without positive results, relieving the fans’ pressure. Cabuloso, momentarily, reached the tenth position of the Brazilian Championship table, adding 17 points. Tricolor, on the other hand, appears one place ahead of its last opponent, with 18. São Paulo returns to the field for the Copa Sudamericana in the middle of the week and for the Brasileirão it receives Fluminense next Saturday (01), inside Morumbi, at 16:00 . On the same day, Cruzeiro visits Internacional at 21:00 in Beira-Rio.

Featured Photo: Cruzeiro players celebrating. Playback/Twitter