São Paulo ran riot against Sporting Cristal on Tuesday, as Tricolor won 3-0 away from home to mark a positive start to their Libertadores campaign.
Goals from Luan, Benítez and Eder sealed a convincing win for the visitors.
For Luan, the goal was more significant for him as it was the first professional goal for the 21-year-old.
São Paulo didn’t start the game in the brightest as they made some poor passing and errors with bad decisions in the final third. However, they got their confidence back on track after some minutes into the game.
Sporting Cristal on the other hand, tried to take advantage of the poor decision making from the visitors, to launch their own attack, but they couldn’t just get that final ball in.
São Paulo then took the lead in the 17th minute, when Luan’s deflected shot got past Duarte.
After the goal, Sao Paulo’s confidence began to grow, and Tricolor regained total control of the game.
After the break, the game intensity changed, with both teams attacking each ends frequently. Sporting tried to get their equalizing goal and Sao Paulo wanted to extend their lead.
In the 60th minute, after several knocking on the door attempts, Sao Paulo eventually got their second of the night through Benitez.
Eder also got on the score sheet, after a pin point score from Reinaldo to seal Sao Paulo’s victory.
However, the drama didn’t just end with São Paulo running riot, as defender Leo saw his second yellow card in the final stretch of the game and was sent off.
For their next outing, São Paulo will face Santo André in Morumbi on Friday and Ituano in Itu on Sunday.
