São Paulo beats Atlético-GO on penalties and returns to the South American final

São Paulo is back in the Copa Sudamericana final. Champion of the tournament in 2012, the São Paulo team beat Atlético-GO this Thursday (8) on penalties, 4-2, and advanced to the final stage.

In normal time, with two goals from Patrick, the tricolor team won by 2 to 0, taking the dispute to penalties since it had been defeated in the first game, in Goiânia, by 3 to 1.

In the decision, the tricolor team will face Independiente Del Valle, from Ecuador. In the other semifinal, the Ecuadorian team eliminated Melgar, from Peru, with two wins by 3-0, the second being on Wednesday (7), at the opponent’s house.

The final stage will be the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium, in Córdoba, Argentina, on October 1st. Initially, the match would be at Mané Garrincha, in Brasília, but Conmebol responded to a request made by the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) to change the location due to the proximity to the elections in Brazil. The first round is scheduled for October 2.

Like Libertadores, Sudamericana also has its champion defined in a single game. And Rogério Ceni’s team fought hard to return to the final of the tournament they won in 2012.

São Paulo had a chance to at least equalize the dispute in the first half. Right away, he opened the scoring with Patrick, at 4 minutes. The midfielder took advantage of a rebound from goalkeeper Renan after a cross kick from Luciano.

Shortly after, at 15, it was Calleri’s turn to widen at Morumbi, but the referee annulled the bid for a foul by the Argentine before completing it for the nets. It would be a tie on aggregate. It seemed, however, a matter of time for the hosts to reverse the disadvantage of the first game.

That just didn’t happen before the break because Renan recovered from an error in the first goal and made at least three great saves. Cornered, Atlético-GO tried, without much success, to explore counterattacks. While the hosts ended the first half with 12 shots, the visitors only kicked on goal twice.

The scenario didn’t change much after the break, mainly because of Patrick’s good performance. The midfielder appeared frequently inside the penalty area and, in the 17th minute, deflected the ball towards the goal after a Luciano cross. It was the tie of the confrontation on aggregate, a result that dragged on until the end and took the dispute to penalties.