A second half spate of goals earn victory on the road

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat FC Vizela 2-5 on Matchday 18 of the Liga Portugal season, making it 8 wins on the bounce in all competitions and keeping them top of the table.

On a cold night in the North of the country, Viktor Gyökeres (twice), Francisco Trincão, Paulinho and Sebastián Coates all found the net for Sporting CP.

Opponents FC Vizela started the game 17th in the league, with 13 points, but Rúben Amorim took the challenge seriously and almost repeated the starting XI from the 0-3 victory away to GD Chaves. He only made one change: Captain Coates returning in place of Matheus Reis, who was absent at the last minute due to flu. Ousmane Diomande, Hidemasa Morita and Geny Catamo were away on international duty, and Jeremiah St. Juste and Iván Fresneda both continued to recover from injuries.

Sporting CP began the game in an authoritarian manner, pegging FC Vizela back into their midfield and providing two serious warnings in the first five minutes. However, both Nuno Santos' header and Viktor Gyökeres' shot were blocked by Hugo Oliveira and Rodrigo Escoval, respectively.

The home team, with the least prolific attack in the division, only needed one opportunity to take the lead before the quarter-hour. From a cross into the box, Soro headed in to make it 0-1.

Sporting CP had gone two games without conceding a goal, and their equaliser could have come soon after, but Gyökeres couldn't take advantage of a perfect pass from Nuno Santos, hitting the post. A few minutes later, the Swedish striker had a shot at goalkeeper Fabjan Buntic, while FC Vizela responded with a quick counterattack, sent wide by captain Samu.

It was during a very hectic period of first-half stoppage time that Sporting CP put the ball into the net: After a masterful pass from Trincão, Paulinho burst into the area and made it 1-1, however, the goal ended up being disallowed for offside by VAR.

Nevertheless, the persistence continued and was rewarded in the 8th minute of stoppage time. Gyökeres, who at the beginning of the move had a shot blocked by Buntic, struck low into the net to level.

Just a minute into the second half, after a recovery high up the pitch by Paulinho, Trincão crossed low from the right. The ball, without contact from Gyökeres, ended up going through and ended up being a goal in a third consecutive game for the number 17.

With great aggression after taking the lead, Sporting CP recovered several balls in the opposition midfield, and it was in one of these moves that they would extend the advantage. Trincão crossed into the area and Paulinho headed in his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.

The game was not resolved, however, and FC Vizela once again proved to be lethal in attack. Moving upfield at speed, Essende beat Antonio Adán in a one-on-one and scored shortly after the hour.

After Buntic denied Trincão a goal following a corner kick, it would be from another dead ball that the final blow was delivered. Pedro Gonçalves took the free-kick and captain Coates headed in brilliantly to take it to 2-4.

From that moment on, Sporting CP had complete control over the pace of the game and managed the remaining minutes with great confidence. Included were two late chances for  Gyökeres, one of which saw him set up by Daniel Bragança for his 13th goal in the league and 22nd of the season.

Next up is a change of competition, and a trip to the Final Four of the Taça da Liga. Sporting CP take on SC Braga on the Tuesday in Leiria.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Ricardo Esgaio, Eduardo Quaresma, Sebastián Coates [C] (Rafael Pontelo, 90+1’), Gonçalo Inácio, Nuno Santos, Morten Hjulmand (Daniel Bragança, 60’), Pedro Gonçalves (Dário Essugo, 90+1’), Francisco Trincão, Paulinho (Marcus Edwards, 79’) e Viktor Gyökeres.