A Geny Catamo goal earns a 1-0 home win against SL Benfica

Sporting Clube de Portugal returned to the top of the Liga Portugal table with a 1-0 win over SL Benfica 1-0 on Matchday 16. Geny Catamo scored the only goal of the game, half an hour into the contest.

Rui Borges' first game in charge of Sporting CP saw a change in the lineup, with the return of Hidemasa Morita, who hadn't played since the beginning of the month.

Sporting CP started with Franco Israel in goal, Eduardo Quaresma, Ousmane Diomande and Jeremiah. St Juste in the defensive trio, Geny Catamo on the right wing and Matheus Reis on the left, with the attack made up of Francisco Trincão, Viktor Gyökeres and Geovany Quenda.

In the first five minutes, Sporting CP twice sent the ball into the side netting, courtesy of Ousmane Diomande from a free kick and Catamo from open play.

Aktürkoglu had an effort on target for SL Benfica, but Franco Israel held it with ease.

At th other end,Trincão had a shot saved by Trubin, then put in a cross for Quenda to meet unmarked at the back post. The goalkeeper had to react quickly to make his second stop.

Israel also made a super save as Kökçü tested him off a free kick that he met on the drop.

The only goal of the game arrived in the 29th minute. Viktor Gyökeres broke away from marker Tiago Araújo and, close to the line, passed low to the far post, where Catamo appeared to convert the chance and make it 1-0,

Trincão and Gyökeres keptTrubin busy before the interval, but the game went into halftime with a single-goal advantage.

It was SL Benfica who approached the restart strongest, and threatened an equaliser -only denied by Franco Israel.

After 70 minutes, coach Rui Borges then made three substitutions, bringing on Maxi Araújo, João Simões and Iván Fresneda for Geovany Quenda, Hidemasa Morita and Eduardo Quaresma. Shortly afterwards, he introduced Conrad Harder for Francisco Trincão.

SL Benfica had more of the ball and were more dangerous, as Sporting CP lacked quality in the final third. However, they came close to doubling their lead in the 85th minute: A quick move saw Catamo stride through the middle, with Araújo and Gyökeres on each side waiting for the ball, but the winger decided to shoot and had his strike blocked by Tiago Araújo.

Next, Gyökeres again rushed away from Tomás Araújo, but Trubin prevented the Swedish striker's shot from going in.

The score remained 1-0 and Sporting CP won the derby, moving them joint top with FC Porto in the table. They start 2025 with a game on Friday, January 3rd, at Vitória SC.