São Paulo beat Bragantino 2-1 on Saturday night (21), in Bragança Paulista and advanced to the semi-finals of the Campeonato Paulista.
The result extends the good phase of the São Paulo team, which, after a turbulent period at the beginning of the year, has not lost in seven games and is undefeated in the Brazilian Championship. The last defeat was to Palmeiras, 3-1, on January 24th.
The match was balanced in the first half, with a great chance for each club. In the hosts’ match, in the 33rd minute, Gustavinho received the ball from Pitta, free, inside the area, and shot for a beautiful save by Rafael. The ball even touched the post before leaving.
Six minutes later, Lucas Ramon received a pass from the right and crossed hard. Goalkeeper Cleiton hit the ball badly, into the middle of the area, and Paraguayan Damián Bobadilla shot to open the scoring.
São Paulo increased at the beginning of the second half, in the seventh minute. With a rehearsed free kick, Danielzinho crossed, Luciano headed the ball and Lucas, alone, pushed it into the net.
Behind on the scoreboard, Bragantino went into the game. He tried with Juninho Capixaba, whose header stopped in a beautiful defense by Rafael, and managed to reduce it soon after, with Gustavo Marques, who headed in a corner kick.
The team from the interior tried to exert final pressure, especially in stoppage time, when they had one more player, after Alan Franco was sent off, but were unable to break through the visitors’ defense.
Hernán Crespo’s team now waits for the other quarterfinal matches to find out their next opponent in the competition. In Paulista there is no bracket, and the clashes are according to the campaign in the previous phases, with the owner of the best campaign among the classifieds facing the worst, and so on.
The Morumbi team returns to the field on Wednesday (24), when they face Coritiba, away from home, in the Brazilian Championship. The team is second in the competition, with 7 points.
