First round of Paulistão
Index
The professional season began, for the Paulistas, with the biggest state championship in Brazil, Paulistão. In the 1st Round, only Santos, of the big four, emerged victorious, as their rivals stumbled in their debut.
Bragantino 1 x 0 Corinthians
Corinthians began its trajectory losing away from home to Bragantino. The author of the solitary goal of the match was Arthur who, without a doubt, was the main player of the match. The striker commanded the actions of the home team, which was dominant in the vast majority of the game.
On Corinthians’ side, goalkeeper Cássio was one of the few highlights, making several saves, in a weak and timid match for Timão, avoing a worse loss.
This performance is reflected in the numbers presented in the game, with Massa Bruta finishing 19 times, 6 on target, while Corinthians took just 8 shots, 4 on goal.
Timão is looking for a recovery playing in its arena, against Água Santa, on Wednesday (18), at 7:30 p.m.
Palmeiras 0 x 0 Sao Bento
The defending champion drew 0-0 with São Bento and had a game with good chances to score, stopping at the crossbar and at the opposing goalkeeper Zé Carlos. Verdão also had two goals disallowed for offside, the first by Jailson, in the first half, and the second by Dudu, in the final stage.
Palmeiras felt the absence of Gustavo Scarpa and Danilo, currently Nottingham Forrest players, who were very important for the team’s functioning. The youth jewel, Endrick began the game as a starter, and despite not liking his performance, he did not have a bad game.
Verdão is looking for the first three points at the Santa Cruz stadium, in Ribeirão Preto, against Botafogo, Thursday (19), at 9:30 p.m.
Santos 2 x 1 Mirassol
The first game of Alvinegro Praiano after the death of Pelé had several tributes to the king of football. Even before the match began, the honours began, with a light show, flags, throne and crown on the field.
In addition, the tribute was attended by the eternal idols of the 1950-60 generation, who formed the basis of the two-time world champion team.
On the shirt, the numbers of the Santos players alluded to the number 10 shirt and thanks to the King in different languages, on the other hand, on the Mirassol side, all players had the name of Pelé. In the 10th minute, the game stopped to salute the biggest legend of the sport.
In the game, the visiting team started better and opened the score in the 26th minute of the first half, after Danielzinho’s shot, with a flaw by João Paulo. However, Santos recovered and in the 40th minute, VAR called the referee to confirm the penalty, scored by Marcos Leonardo.
In the second stage, the home team insisted a lot and already in extra time, in the 94th minute, after a beautiful pass from Soteldo, Lucas Braga turned the confrontation around. Peixe still wasted a penalty kick with Marcos Leonardo in the final minutes.
Santos is looking for a sequel this Wednesday (18), against Guarani, in the stadium Brinco de Ouro da Princesa, at 9:35 p.m.
Sao Paulo 0 x 0 Ituano
São Paulo drew without goals with Ituano and had the entry of three signs in the starting lineup, Rafael, Pedrinho and Wellington Rato, the last one being the most prominent among the hired players. Marcos Paulo entered the final part of the match and was almost not activated.
In a game without many emotions and a lot of rain, the Tricolor disappointed the more than 45 thousand fans present at Morumbi, who booed the team after the final whistle.
The team commanded by Rogério Ceni fights for its first victory this Thursday (19), in Araraquara, against Ferroviária, at 7:30 p.m.
Água Santa 1 x 3 Ferroviária
The highlight of Paulistão’s first round was John Kennedy, Ferroviária striker who scored 3 goals in Ferrinha’s victory over Água Santa. Xerém’s jewel was loaned by Fluminense to the Araraquara team to gain more experience until the end of the tournament.
Will John Kennedy be the competition’s top scorer? Will he continue to perform well?
Summary
In a round marked by the low performance of the big clubs, the main highlights of the 1st Round of Paulistão 2023 are due to the beautiful tribute made by Santos to his eternal idol, Pelé. It is the first official match since his death and the club did not spare effort to show all its gratitude and pride for being the home of the greatest athlete of all time.
Finally, it is also worth mentioning John Kennedy’s hat-trick, creating great expectations for the young player for the rest of the season. Will the next round serve to break or reinforce expectations about the first one?
Written by Henry Miller and Victor F L Miller.
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