Sporting CP win 0-1 away from home

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat CD Santa Clara 0-1 in the Azores on Liga Portugal Matchday 29. Geny Catamo's solitary goal was enough for the team to earn three important points on the road.

At the Estádio São Miguel, coach Rui Borges opted for a starting lineup with two changes: Maxi Araújo and Iván Fresneda returned to the XI in place of Matheus Reis and Geovany Quenda.

On a typical spring afternoon in the Azores archipelago, with radiant sun, after an intense and unexpected period of rain, Sporting CP took over possession early in the game, but without creating any real chances. So much so that the first shot on target in the game ended up being from the home team, who troubled Rui Silva after just six minutes: Daniel Borges won a second ball and shot across goal, with the effort going just wide.

Rui Borges' men tried to break through the organised defence, with little success, but found it difficult to get into the final third. On 21 minutes, Francisco Trincão and Viktor Gyökeres showed good understanding in the central channel, but collided with the wall created by the opposition. On 24 minutes, it was Geny Catamo who appeared on the left, without being able to get a cross in.

The clock ticked down without any significant moves in a very tactical first half, until in the 37th minute Zeno Debast took an excellent free kick from far out, forcing Gabriel Batista to make a good save.

The move ‘woke up’ Os Leões, who soon after benefited from another set piece. This time, the Belgian shot from the left flank and Catamo appeared to head the ball wide of the mark. Afterwards, Vinícius Lopes forced Rui Silva to make a difficult save at the other end, and Trincão struck just wide of the post.

The game would not go into halftime without another attempt by Catamo, who was denied by the Azorean goalkeeper.

With no changes for the second half, Sporting CP came out active, but it was CD Santa Clara who came closest to scoring in the 48th minute: MT got free at the far post and headed the ball outside the upright.

Finally, Sporting CP broke the deadlock through Catamo in the 50th minute. After an excellent run by Francisco Trincão, he came in from the right of the area and, with a low cross-shot, found the net. With seven goals this campaign, the Mozambican has surpassed his tally from last season.

Ten minutes later, he made another move on the right, left an opponent in his wake and crossed into the box, but no one, other than Gabriel Batista, was able to get on the end of it.

In the 64th minute, after an excellent run by Debast, Fresneda crossed straight onto Gyökeres' right foot, but the Swede's powerful shot hit the crossbar.

Soon after, Rui Borges introduced Geovany Quenda and Jeremiah St. Juste, and Sporting CP came very close to scoring the second goal. In the 68th minute, Debast's free kick crossed the entire defensive line and Ousmane Diomande appeared at the edge of the area to extend the lead. However, VAR intervened, signalling an offside position for the Ivorian defender.

Stronger in individual duels and without conceding space, Sporting CP managed to stop the opponents' pressure in the second half, and Rui Silva became more of a spectator.

In the 77th minute, Conrad Harder came on, and a minute later Quenda tried to set the Dane through, but his cross was too powerful and went straight out of play.

One of the game's greatest moments came in the 87th minute, as after many months out, Pedro Gonçalves made his long-awaited return to competition.

After the start of injury time, Gabriel Silva came very close to equalising, but his shot from far away went just wide of the post and Sporting CP held on, securing a hard-fought but fair victory.

Sporting CP: Rui Silva [GK], Zeno Debast, Viktor Gyökeres, Francisco Trincão (Pedro Gonçalves, 87’), Maxi Araújo (Matheus Reis, 87’), Geny Catamo (Conrad Harder, 77’), Iván Fresneda (Geovany Quenda, 66’), Gonçalo Inácio, Ousmane Diomande, Morten Hjulmand [C] and Eduardo Quaresma (Jeremiah St. Juste, 66’).