The coach speaks after the resounding win over FC Porto

After Sporting CP became outright leaders of Liga Portugal with their 2-0 win against FC Porto, coach Rúben Amorim praised the team's good performance and their ability to take the three points.

“Today we were very strong in the duels and second balls. We read the moments of the game, understood when to press and when not to, and it went well. We could have scored more goals, but we won and that is the most important thing," considered the coach, who addressed the importance of Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres, whose strike took him up to 17 goals for the season.

“Gyökeres has improved our team and the fans like him a lot, but we need to look at it the other way too. In the same way that Sporting CP improved Viktor, Viktor also improved Sporting CP; the two things are linked. But obviously he brought a different energy and ability, like many other players."

Amorim was then invited to comment on the performance of Eduardo Quaresma, who replaced the injured Sebastián Coates in defence and was given a standing ovation after an hour of play.

“It didn't surprise me. He can play these games when he's focused. What concerns me is that he maintains this level. All players with talent can have a good game, but only those with a certain mentality can play for a big team that always have to win. I'm very happy for him, he played a good game and lasted 60 minutes with a lack of match pace, but tomorrow he has to recover and regain the same level of concentration," he highlighted, explaining the reason why he decided to opt for the 21-year-old centre back to replace the captain.

“We did two days of tactical work and Coates was injured at the last minute in training. Quaresma spent the whole time doing tactical work with Diomande, because he was the one who was going there to play, and he knew everything. If it were Matheus Reis coming in, we would have had to change several things, so we made a like-for-like switch. Diomande feels comfortable in the middle and I have no doubts about Quaresma's ability. One player was left out and another came in so as not to change everything we had trained," he clarified, informing that“ Coates has a muscle injury and will be out of action for some time."

Amorim later acknowledged that although the Sportinguistas were “happy” with the triumph, it was necessary to keep their feet on the ground as these were only a further three points in a long journey.

“The team had a good game, but it's another league match and should be seen as a normal day. We have to move forward, as this is a marathon and we have to keep going."