São Paulo extended their lead at the top of the Brazilian Championship with a convincing 4-0 victory over Botafogo on Wednesday night. It was one-way traffic all game in Morumbi and the visitors barely threatened their opponents in any way.
Brenner opened the scoring just after 10 minutes of the game before adding his second of the night to make it 2-0 for São Paulo in the 27th minute.
Things got worse for Botafogo when Marcelo Conceicao was shown his marching orders for a straight red card offence in the 34th minute. As expected after that dismissal, their struggles were only made more evident.
The game was put beyond any doubt when Reinaldo scored from the penalty spot to make it 3-0 just on the stroke of half time.
São Paulo dominated the second half but were not all that clinical until Hernanes completed the rout with a goal in the 90th minute to make it 4-0.The assist was made by Brenner and it meant the forward had a hand in three out of São Paulo’s four goals.
The victory means São Paulo now have a run of 17 games unbeaten in the competition. It continues to get worse for Botafogo who have now lost all of their last six games.
With the result, São Paulo are now up to 50 points and have opened a seven-point gap ahead of second-placed Atlético-MG. Botafogo remain in the relegation zone and are only just one point away from bottom placed Goias.
For their next game, Botafogo travel to Porto Alegre to take on Inter while São Paulo plays their next match against Corinthians on Sunday.
