Sporting slip to heavy defeat in Albania

Sporting put in a forgettable performance in Albania this Thursday in a 3-0 loss that saw Rui Patrício sent off and Ewerton substituted through injury.

Going into the encounter following a potentially helpful draw between Besiktas and Lokomotiv Moscow, the team from Alvalade made a largely expected dominating start to the encounter, holding down long spells of possession but without creating any clean chances on goal. However, a disasterous ten minutes saw Skënderbeu open the scoring in the 14th minute through Lilaj. Adding insult to injury, Rui Patrício was shown a red card five minutes later and Lilaj converted from the penalty spot to leave Sporting with an uphill task to salvage points in Albania.

Trailing, Jorge Jesus sacrificed Tanaka – one of the surprises in the evening's starting line-up, which also saw Tobias, Jonatha, Bruno Paulista, Matheus, Mané and Montero feature from the off – to keep Matheus and Mané out wide in support of Montero, but Sporting were unable to battle back and went two goals down at the break.

Sporting had the chance to pull a goal back early after the restart, but Skënderbeu's third courtesy of a chip from Nimaga to beat Boeck from outside of the 18-yard box set the score beyond Sporting's reach. The loss sees Sporting remain in third place in Group H with four points, two behind Besiktas and four behind Lokomotiv.

Jorge Jesus focused on claiming three points in Albania

With four points, Sporting currently occupy 3rd place in Europa League H, but are just a single point of Besiktas in 2nd. A win in Albania will keep the Alvalade club's hopes of alive of qualifying for the knock-out stages.

“It is fundamental that we win if we are going to get through the group stages. It won't be like in Lisbon, it will be more divided and more complicated, against a team who will be more relaxed and who will play better than they did in Alvalade, but we believe in the work we are doing. We will rotate some players, but we aren't talking about a game that isn't important here, because the Europa League is important, but some of the players need this kind of experience. We have a responsibility to try and win every competition we are in and the Europa League is one of the competitions that we want to go as far as possible in", opened Jorge Jesus in a pre-match press conference.

Asked about the unenviable record of not having won a European away game in four years, Jorge Jesus preferred to focus on the importance of winning the three points: "We are concentrating on winning games and the importance of being in with a chance to get through to the next round. If we can break that record then great, but I honestly didn't even know about it."

Sporting will take on Skënderbeu at 20h05 on Thurday, in Europa League Group H.

João Mário back in contention after suspension

João Mário is back in Jorge Jesus' options for this Thursday's encounter against Skënderbeu, after serving a 3 match suspension following a red card against CSKA Moscow in the Russian capital.

Speaking about his first match in the Europa League, João Mário proved with the chance to contribute: "I really want to play and I don't mind if it is on the right or in the middle."

The Alvalade younger went on to affirm that his side is execting a tough encounter, but guaranteed that Sporting are up to the challenge: "Away games are always complicated, but we all know what we can do and the quality we have", said João Mário, before finishing on squad rotation: "No matter who plays, everyone will do their best to help the team."

Sporting will take on Skenderbëu this Thursday in Albania, in Europa League Group H.

Tickets on sale starting Thursday

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 10, between Futebol Clube de Arouca and Sporting Clube de Portugal will go on sale at the Estádio José Alvalade (from 10h00 to 20h00) as follows:

THURSDAY | Club Members with a Gamebox 2015/2016 and October 2015 fees paid
FRIDAY | Club Members without a Gamebox and October 2015 fees paid
SATURDAY | General public

The match will kick off at 20h30 on Sunday the 8th of November, in the Arouca Municipal Stadium. Tickers are priced at 20€ each.

For Sporting fans in the north of the country, tickets will also be on sale at the Solar do Norte Delegation (Porto) and the Gondomar and São João da Madeira Sporting Supporters' Clubs.

Europa League: Skënderbeu vs Sporting

Sporting would like to announce the following for fans traveling to Albania for the Europa League match against Skënderbeu:

Europa League matchday four will kick off at 21:05CET in the Elbasan Arena, approximately 1 hour form where the squad will be based.

The meeting point for traveling fans is on the west side of the Elbasan Arena, where Sporting fans can enter the stadium.

Fans are encouraged to arrive 2 hours before kick-off.

A Sporting representative will be at the Elbasan Arena to assist all traveling fans as needed.

Jorge Jesus highlights the importance of keeping a grip on first place after win against Estoril

Speaking at the final whistle after watching Sporting open up a five-point lead at the top of I Liga, Jorge Jesus highlighted his side's recent defensive performances, having only let in two goals in the last five encounters.

“There were some tough periods tonight, with Estoril creating problems like we thought they would. When a team is in first, it is normal to have games like this one, but I thought the lads showed that they knew what to do and took the right decisions. Sometimes it looks like we are taking one touch too many, but that is how we have been training. Estoril positioned themselves well defensively, but we fixed some things in the second-half and improved. We had more opportunities and wasted some chances on open goal. The most important factor was that we didn't concede, because we are strong defensively. That is what won us this game", opened the Alvalade boss in a flash interview.

In parallel, Jesus spoke about the importance of winning after last week's 3-0 derby win: “It was important to win after the match in Estádio da Luz, because every match is worth three points. Today we had 40 thousand people in the stadium and that is a sign of the fans' confidence in us. It was important to stay top of the league, because if we think it was hard to get where we are then it will be even harder to stay there, but that is what makes champions."

William Carvalho's reaction to 1-0 win over Estoril

William Carvalho was given the captain's armband in place of the suspended Adrien against Estoril on Saturday.

Speaking about his side's performance, the Portuguese international commented: “We started well and we had a lot of possession, but we didn't create that many chances. After half-time we tired Estoril out. It was a good result and the lads deserve a pat on the back. It was worth another three points and we have to keep winning now. There are a lot of matches to play until the end of the season and we want to stay at the top of the league. We will keep putting the work in and our opponents should be worried about us."

Goal Teo Gutiérrez goal gives Sporting five point lead at the top of I Liga

Sporting held firm against a stubborn Estoril this Saturday evening, claiming a well-earned three points courtesy of a penalty converted on by Teófilo Gutiérrez at the start of the second-half.

With Gelson in for the suspended Adrien and the deployment of João Mário down the middle of the park, it was was obvious from early on that Estoril had come to Alvalade looking for an upset. In fact the visitors could have taken the lead after just 40 seconds, when Dieguinho took a first crack at Rui Patrício. Sporting held down the majority of possession, but space was scarce in the final third and closed defensive ranks starved the encounter of creativity, while Estoril looked happy to attack on the break down the flanks. On 18 minutes, after Slimani had come close with a header, Bruno César pulled a superb diving save out of Patrício.

Sporting livened up around the half-hour mark, pegging Estoril back and securing play in the opposition half. However, the forward lines were finding it difficult to create a clean chance on goal and a blank scoreboard at half-time was largely fair.

The interval proved just the trick for Jorge Jesus' side, with the Sporting coach's fine-tuning unlocking Estoril at the back. Chance after chance followed, including a 50th minute golden opportunity that Bryan Ruiz was unable to convert on after a cross from João Pereira. Just seconds earlier Mano looked to have cut out a cross with his arm, but the referee waved away the appeals for a spot kick.

The goal finally game in the 55th minute, when some collective play found Teófilo Gutiérrez just off to the side of the six-yard box, only for the Colombian to be brought down for a penalty that he himself calmly slotted in. The goal blew a whole in the heart of the Estoril defence and more chances naturally followed. Gelson forced a stop out of Kieszek in the 57th minute and nine minutes later Jefferson came painfully close to doubling the lead. Sporting could well have killed the game off with a series of opportunities as the clock ticked down and Bruno César fired a shot over in the 88th minute for the visitors, while there was still time for both Matheus Pereira and Bruno Paulista to make their I Liga debuts.

The result sees Sporting move five points clear at the top of I Liga.

Jorge Jesus includes 18 players to host Estoril

Jorge Jesus has named 18 players in his squad for Saturday's hosting of Estoril in Estádio José Alvalade, on I Liga matchday 9:

Goalkeepers: Rui Patrício and Marcelo Boeck

Defenders: Jefferson, Ewerton, Tobias, Paulo Oliveira and João Pereira

Midfielders: William, João Mário, André Martins and Bruno Paulista

Forwards: Slimani, Montero, Teo Gutierrez, Bryan Ruiz, Carlos Mané, Gelson Martins and Matheus Pereira

Sporting-Estoril will get underway at 20h45 on Saturday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Jorge Jesus shares his thoughts on Saturday's hosting of Estoril

“We want to carry on in first and we will do everything possible to defend that”, opened Jorge Jesus in a pre-match press conference on Friday, ahead of his side’s hosting of Estoril.

Coming into the encounter on the back of a moralising 3-0 away win against Benfica, the Sporting coach warned caution against the weekend’s visitors: “We know we will be playing against one of the strongest teams in the league. They have quality players and they will cause problems for us. We have been working hard during the week to be ready and we don’t underestimate anybody, especially Estoril. We have identified certain targets, such as Bruno César, who was my player and he is strong from dead ball situations.

“As soon as you go clear at the top of the league, you become a target for the teams that are fighting for that position. There is still a long way to go, but we want to be at the top of the league for as long as possible”, added the Sporting coach, finishing: “We are hoping that the fans turn out in force. It is for them that we work hard to give them quality and something to be happy about week in week out. We have scored 17 goals and only conceded two in the last four games, which I am obviously happy about and it shows the work we have been putting in.”

Sporting-Estoril will kick off on Saturday at 20h45, in Estádio José Alvalade.