Sporting CP cruise past CD Tondela in the Taça de Portugal

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat CD Tondela 4-0 in the Fifth Round of the Taça de Portugal, securing a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Rúben Amorim made several changes to the starting XI, including giving a debut to new signing Rafael Pontelo. On the bench, the highlight was the return of Sebastián Coates to the squad, with Marcus Edwards dropping out at the last minute due to flu-like illness. Youngsters Diego Calai, Dário Essugo, Eduardo Quaresma, Chico Lamba and Afonso Moreira, all from the youth team, were also among the substitutes.

There was dominance from the opening whistle from Sporting CP, but the first clear opportunity was for CD Tondela: In the ninth minute, from outside the area, Rui Gomes forced an excellent save by Franco Israel, who tipped the ball onto the post.

The  response was strong and, soon after, Nuno Santos set Paulinho up for a shot into the side netting. Moments later, Sporting CP opened the scoring; Viktor Gyökeres worked well on the right, placed the ball into a dangerous area and goalkeeper Leo Navacchio blocked, but Nuno Santos still got a shot off that hit a defender. On the rebound, Pedro Gonçalves made it 1-0.

Five minutes later, Gonçalves got his second: Navacchio made a mistake when CD Tondela were bringing the ball out, and gave possession to Daniel Bragança, who immediately assisted for Gonçalves to provide another quality finish. It was the Portuguese international’s ninth goal in 2023/2024.

After the initial scare, Sporting CP were on the rampage. In the 20th minute, Daniel Bragança shot from distance for a parry by Leo Navacchio, and the goalkeeper then denied Paulinho off the follow-up.

Shortly afterwards, it was Trincão's turn, in a good position, and Navacchio had to intervene again. At the other end, from one of CD Tondela's rare attacks, Rui Gomes headed wide.

The third goal became a reality in the 37th minute, when Trincão picked out Santos and he crossed for Gyökeres, who headed home.

Before half-time, Paulinho also put the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Sporting CP held a healthy 3-0 lead at the interval.

Morten Hjulmand and Matheus Reis came on for the second half, with Gonçalves and Pontelo going off, and not even a minute had passed before Sporting CP scored again.

CD Tondela once again made a mistake in the build-up and Gyökeres was in an unforgiving mood, intercepting the pass, going round the goalkeeper and shooting into the empty net. It took him to 20 goals for the season and increased the lead to 4-0.

In the 52nd minute, another great opportunity for Paulinho was cut out by Navacchio with a beautiful save. Shortly afterwards, Daniel dos Anjos, with a direct free kick, forced Franco Israel into action.

Gyökeres and Gonçalo Inácio made way for Afonso Moreira and Coates, with the latter returning after almost a month on the sidelines.

CD Tondela had a consolation goal disallowed for offside, and Paulinho's cutback hit the post off a defender for Sporting CP, whilst late on a quick attack saw Essugo tee up  Trincão for a shot wide. In the 90th minute, it was Trincão's turn to deliver with a great pass, but Paulinho was denied by Leo Navacchio.

The 4-0 win takes Sporting CP through to the next round of the cup competition. They will now travel to GD Chaves for another round of Liga Portugal, with the match scheduled for 6pm on Saturday, January 13th, at the Estádio Municipal Eng. º Manuel Branco Teixeira.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Luís Neto [C], Gonçalo Inácio (Sebastián Coates, 59'), Rafael Pontelo (Matheus Reis, 46'), Ricardo Esgaio, Daniel Bragança (Dário Essugo, 73'), Pedro Gonçalves (Morten Hjulmand, 46'), Nuno Santos, Francisco Trincão, Paulinho e Viktor Gyökeres (Afonso Moreira, 59').