José Manuel López does not need chances. He needs half-chances, and on Wednesday night against Santos he turned two of them into goals that killed the tie before the hour mark.
Palmeiras won 3-0 in the Copa do Brasil, but the scoreline does not tell the story of López's ruthlessness. His two finishes carried a combined expected goals value of just 0.25. He made them count for two actual goals, an overperformance of 1.75 that left Santos chasing shadows and their defence asking questions it could not answer.
Efficiency over volume
López was not peppered with service. He did not dominate possession or rack up touches in the box. What he did was convert the margins into certainties. The kind of striker who punishes you for a momentary lapse, a deflection that sits up kindly, a rebound that falls six inches the wrong side of a defender's boot.
His match rating of 9.4 reflected not just the goals but the decisiveness with which he took them. Palmeiras controlled the game; López made sure it stayed controlled.
Santos, for their part, offered little going forward and were made to pay for it. When the chances are scarce, you cannot afford to waste them. López does not waste them. That is the difference between a good striker and one who changes cup ties on his own.