Sporting CP draw away to rivals SL Benfica

Sporting Clube de Portugal drew 1-1 away to title rivals SL Benfica on Liga Portugal Matchday 33, taking the title race to the final weekend of the season.

Support for the team was shown at the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as on the bus route to the Estádio da Luz, and thousands of fans cheered loudly for them throughout the 90 minutes.

Coach Rui Borges made two changes, bringing in Ousmane Diomande and Morten Hjulmand in place of Jeremiah St. Juste and Hidemasa Morita.

The start of the game could not have been better, as Sporting CP opened the scoring after just four minutes: Pedro Gonçalves played through Viktor Gyökeres on the left and he, surrounded by several defenders, worked well to set up Francisco Trincão for the finish.

SL Benfica responded with a shot from Di María that went close, but it was Sporting CP who were enjoying the better of the play. From a free kick, Trincão sent the ball dangerously in the area, but the defence cleared it for a corner. On the next move, Maxi Araújo headed close.

Control of the game evened out and, on 28 minutes, it was Rui Silva's turn to shine, with a great intervention in a one-on-one with Kerem Aktürkoğlu. Shortly after, Di María tried to score again, but lashed his effort over the bar.

Half an hour in, a good counterattack by Quaresma found Trincão, who in turn looked for Gyökeres before the defenders cleared the ball for a corner. Then, Geny Catamo, on 35 minutes, forced a save from Trubin.

Sporting CP, who were the better team in the first half, enjoyed a further opportunity for Gyökeres, saved by Trubin, and when Gonçalves scored on the rebound it was disallowed for a foul.

As expected, SL Benfica came back out for the second half with the intention of taking control of the game. Although they did this without creating any great chances, they had more possession of the ball and started to get closer to the Sporting CP area. Pavlidis shot wide off a corner and Kerem Aktürkoğlu missed the target with a long shot, in two opportunities for the home side.

In response, Rui Borges introduced Zeno Debast for Morita in the 57th minute.

SL Benfica managed to equalise in the 63rd minute through Kerem Aktürkoğlu, taking the score to 1-1.

Geovany Quenda replaced Gonçalves in another substitution, and two close opportunities occurred during the next spell, as Trincão shot wide from distance and, immediately afterwards, Pavlidis hit the post.

On 81 minutes it was the turn of Araújo, Quaresma and Trincão to be withdrawn, making way for Matheus Reis, Jeremiah St. Juste and Conrad Harder.

In the 84th minute, Gyökeres ran up the field before having a shot saved by Trubin. Whilst Sporting CP were on top of the game, they could not change the scoreline, and the game ended 1-1.

Sporting CP now have the chance to win the title for the second time in a row next weekend, when they host Vitória SC at the Estádio José Alvalade.

Sporting CP: Rui Silva [GK], Eduardo Quaresma (Jeremiah St. Juste, 81'), Ousmane Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio, Geny Catamo, Morten Hjulmand [C], Zeno Debast (Hidemasa Morita, 57'), Maxi Araújo (Matheus Reis, 81'), Francisco Trincão (Conrad Harder, 81'), Pedro Gonçalves (Geovany Quenda, 71') and Viktor Gyökeres.