São Bernardo claimed a 2-0 victory over Ponte Preta at the Estádio Moisés Lucarelli in the 26th round of Brazil's Serie B on Saturday evening. The result leaves the visitors in 14th place with 32 points while the hosts remain rooted at 20th on just 10 points after 25 matches played.
Rodrigo Ferreira opened the scoring just before half-time, finishing the first period with a goal that gave São Bernardo the lead they would not surrender. Mário Sérgio Valerio doubled the advantage in the 79th minute, putting the result beyond doubt for the away side. By then, Ponte Preta had already played much of the match down to ten men after a red card was shown to one of their defenders.
Two yellow cards came in quick succession around the hour mark, Sergio Palacios and Jemerson both picking up bookings in the same minute. São Bernardo made several changes to their back line throughout the second half, bringing on Pará and Romisson together in the 69th minute, while Ponte Preta shuffled their attack with Felipe Garcia and Pedro Vitor Ferreira da Silva arriving in the 80th minute.
And here's the thing about the statistics. São Bernardo created more with two big chances compared to one, and their shots on target came at a far better rate. Ponte Preta managed only one shot on target from six attempts inside and outside the penalty area, while their expected goals total of 0.66 tells you everything about a match where chances went begging.
To be fair, the hosts were not entirely out of it. They completed 288 of 369 passes and won 29 aerial duels, matching their opponents in that department. But the 49 per cent possession figure does not mean much when you are creating so little and taking so few shots on target.
The result extends São Bernardo's unbeaten run and moves them further clear of the relegation zone. Ponte Preta's form since August has been difficult, with five consecutive matches without a win including defeats to América Mineiro and Avaí. The gap between them now sits at 22 points with just ten matches remaining.