Relegated, the team from Rio hasn’t won in 10 games; defeat makes Tricolor Paulista fight for place in the group stage of the Libertadores in the last round
For the 37th round of the Brazilian championship, The Botafogo received the São Paulo, at Nilton Santos, and achieved a victory after 10 games without winning. Already relegated, the team from Rio gave work to the opponent who had one less player since the 28th half. The result leaves São Paulo in 4th place and still does not guarantee the team in the group stage of Liberators cup. The dispute for the vacancy with the Fluminense (63 points against 61) will be for the last round. Botafogo remains in 20th place. The departure of São Paulo was much lower than expected. Missing Daniel Alves (other than for taking the third yellow card in the match against Palm Trees), the team failed to dominate the midfield or create clear chances for a goal. Everything got worse when, at 28 minutes, Reinaldo it was on the opponent’s body and, being the last man, got a straight red card. With one less, Tricolor took a hit with the botafoguense attack and Volpi made three great saves to prevent the opening of the scoreboard.
Upon returning from the break, São Paulo showed a reaction in the opening minutes, but soon Volpi went back to work on some chances for Botafogo and at 12 minutes, Matheus Babi opened the scoring with a header in the corner of the goalkeeper são paulino. In a controversial move at 35, the referee scored a penalty in favor of São Paulo. Luciano was on the ball, but Loureiro saved. In the final minutes, the game was more balanced in midfield and neither team scared. In the last round, São Paulo receives the Flamengo, who fights for the title of the Brazilian Championship, in Morumbi. Botafogo, on the other hand, ends its participation in Series A of 2020 against the Ceara, in Fortaleza. All games take place on Thursday, the 25th, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time).
