Corinthians lost a man in the 31st minute and kept a clean sheet

Sao Paulo created the better chances but finished with nothing, while Corinthians held on through a goalless draw with ten men for most of it.

Corinthians lost M. Pereira to a red card in the 31st minute, and everything that followed should be read with that in mind. Yuri Alberto was also sent off, in the 82nd, so the visitors finished with nine. Neither side scored, which means the clean sheet belongs to a team that spent most of the match a man short.

Sao Paulo had the better of the chances, though not the ball. Their expected goals, a rough measure of how good each chance was, came to 1.72, well above their season average of 1.26 and the league average of 1.35 per side. They had 52% of possession, close to their usual 51.1%, and 16 shots, not far from their average of 15.3. Twelve of those shots came from inside the penalty area.

Those chances did not become goals. Sao Paulo usually score around 1.1 a match, and this league averages 2.7 goals in a match between two sides, so a goalless game stood out from the norm. Rafael and Hugo Souza each made four saves to keep it that way, and Rafael's rating of 7.9 was the highest on the pitch.

Corinthians spent most of the match without the ball, with 48% against their usual 55.8%. Their chances were still not poor. Their expected goals of 1.24 was above their own average of 1.13, and it was more than Sao Paulo usually concede, who normally allow 0.96. Corinthians also had 18 shots, a little more than their average.

Pedro Lima was the Sao Paulo player who looked most likely to make a difference. He created four key passes, the chances that lead directly to a shot, and rated 7.5 for a midfield display that was busy rather than spectacular. He was one of the few who kept pressing the visitors' box as the numbers thinned out.

For the two clubs, the table tells the other half of the story. Sao Paulo are 10th on 43 points from 33 matches. Corinthians, who have the same number of games played, sit 18th on 36 points, and the point they picked up here keeps them there.

Player of the matchRafael4 saves7.9

Pedro Lima4 chances created7.5

André Ramalho4 duels won7.5

Iago Borduchi1 chance created7.3