São Paulo rose to the top of the Campeonato Paulista on Saturday evening with a convincing 3-0 victory over Linense, with Jádson and Osvaldo on the scoresheet once more.
The 2012 Copa Sudamericana champions may have endured a rocky start to their Copa Libertadores challenge but are flying at state level, with just one defeat from their opening eight fixtures.
Jádson opened the scoring for his side after half an hour, sidefooting home after good work from right full-back Douglas to create the chance. The goal is the former Shakhtar player’s sixth of the season so far.
Linense continued to battle manfully, with São Paulo never getting into top gear, but would fall further behind after 15 minutes of the second-half as the host’s quality shone through.
Osvaldo, another of those to come to life under Ney Franco, slipped Luis Fabiano in behind the defence on the right, before speeding into the area to calmly finish from the striker’s return pass. It was a goal of quality that ultimately put the game beyond doubt.
São Paulo were not done, though, and as substitute Cañete set Osvaldo away the forward’s pass in the direction of Luis Fabiano was turned beyond his own keeper by defender Fábio Lima for an unfortunate own goal.
Ney Franco, though, has much to consider regarding his side’s balance in midfield. Ganso was quiet on his second first-team outing of the week and was removed for Aloísio with São Paulo reverting to their normal 4-2-3-1 shape that has served them so well in recent times.
