The team suffer a 3-2 loss on the road to Vitória SC

Sporting Clube de Portugal fell to a shock 3-2 defeat on their visit to Vitória SC, on Matchday 13 of the Liga Portugal season.

For an evening game amidst rainy conditions in Guimarães, coach Rúben Amorim made two changes to the starting lineup from the match against Gil Vicente FC. Sebastián Coates was missing due to suspension, replaced by Matheus Reis, and Nuno Santos made way for Geny Catamo.

The first half was somewhat lacking in terms of opportunities on goal. Vitória SC's Jota tried his luck after three minutes, but Antonio Adán made an easy save, whilst Pedro Gonçalves caused the first scare for the away team and forced an excellent intervention by Bruno Varela.

Finally, in the 41st minute, Sporting CP broke the scoring with a free kick, as Gonçalves sent the ball into the area and Hidemasa Morita knocked on for Gonçalo Inácio to turn it across the line, with his first goal of 2023/24.

The second goal could have come soon after, when Gonçalves provided a delightful chip that was disallowed for offside from the pass from Marcus Edwards.

Vitória SC ended up equalising in the final moments of the first half, when referee João Pinheiro called a penalty against Adán for a foul on Ricardo Mangas. Tiago Silva converted the equaliser on the stroke of halftime.

Nuno Santos replaced Ricardo Esgaio for the second half. Vitória SC began strongly, creating danger in the 49th minute when Ricardo Mangas shot over.

A wetter playing surface changed the dynamic of the match. Sporting CP responded as Ousmane Diomande set free Geny Catamo down the right, the Mozambican teeing up Viktor Gyökeres -who missed the target. The Swede had another chance to score again in the 61st minute, off a Santos ball, but Tomás Ribeiro cut it out.

Francisco Trincão and Paulinho then came on to replace Marcus Edwards and Morten Hjulmand, and Sporting CP came close to scoring again: Trincão, after combining with Nuno Santos forced a good save from Bruno Varela.

At a time in which they were suffering, Vitória SC completed their turnaround in the 73rd minute. Following an excellent intervention by Adán off a shot by João Mendes, André Silva put in the rebound with a big deflection from Morita.

Sporting CP got back level with a quick attack, ending with Gonçalves assisting Santos to make it 2-2.

The pace was frenetic and this openness to the game permitted Vitória SC to score again, this time through Dani Silva, deep into the closing minutes.

Down 2-3, Sporting CP went after Vitória SC and almost conceded in the 88th minute, but Adán made a great save to deny Adrián Butzke.

In the eighth minute of extra time, a shot from Nuno Santos over the top represented the final chance of the game, and Sporting CP fell to a 3-2 loss.

The team remain leaders of Liga Portugal, and will now host SK Sturm Graz in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night.
 
Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [C] [GK], Ricardo Esgaio (Nuno Santos, 46'), Ousmane Domande, Gonçalo Inácio, Geny Catamo, Morten Hjulmand (Paulinho, 61'), Hidemasa Morita, Matheus Reis, Marcus Edwards (Francisco Trincão, 61'), Pedro Gonçalves and Viktor Gyökeres.

The coach is firmly focused on Matchday 13

Sporting Clube de Portugal visit Vitória SC this Saturday for Matchday 13 of the Liga Portugal campaign. Before the trip to the Dom Afonso Henriques, coach Rúben Amorim held a press conference to preview the game with the side currently fifth in the division.

“There is no need to look further ahead, as what matters is beating Vitória SC. Looking at our calendar, we know that there are always very difficult games. It has been shown that every team can drop points, so there is nothing more than Vitória SC on our minds," he began by saying.

“We think about things game by game, but we have a clear objective for the end.”

Currently, Sporting CP top the table with 31 points.

“Tomorrow we will have a game where we will have to suffer, where every time Vitória SC make a transition we will have to sprint back, and we will need to be very fit. The ground is a stadium that is always difficult to play at but, for me, it is incredible because of the passion the fans have. I hope it's a good game and that there is a victory for Sporting CP," he stated.

Despite O Clássico coming up against FC Porto, the contest with Vitória SC is, at the moment, “the most important game."

“We are going to field the best team that we have, and the best way to win the next game is to first win the match we have in front of us," said Amorim, who confirmed the absences of captain Sebastián Coates (through an accumulation of yellow cards) and the injured Jeremiah St. Juste, Daniel Bragança and Iván Fresneda.
When asked about missing Coates, Amorim commented that “everyone has to step up to the plate.”

“Last year, against Arsenal, Seba didn't play, it was a moment of high pressure and we won. And as he gets older, there has to be rotation sometimes, and everyone has to push on. A club like Sporting CP cannot depend on just one player to be strong, nor have just one leader. The players are prepared for his absence, but football-wise it is difficult to ‘cover’ his dead ball threat and his ability to lead the line."

Regarding St. Juste, he called him “a special player and person."

As long as I am St. Juste's coach, he will not give up. Of course, it's difficult to look at him today in training and have the same conversations again, but he always comes back stronger. Now he has been unlucky.”

Then, addressing the average of one goal conceded per game, the coach stressed that “the whole team have to improve. Not just the goalkeepers, whom I believe in a lot."

“We analyse the goals conceded and look at things move-by-move, because just looking at the statistics sometimes fall short. Adán is working well, but he hasn't been lucky -just like we've been talking about with 'Pote'. We believe in them a lot, we are in first place and I am sure this aspect will also improve," he pointed out, before relativising the ‘fairness’ of Sporting CP’s first place in Liga Portugal.
“During the course of the season there will always be a team that are playing better; there are phases of the campaign. I think we're playing well, but we have to play better, with more speed. We have been very competent, but if we don't win tomorrow we may not be leaders, so the focus is on winning the game," said Amorim, redirecting his focus to the match in Guimarães.

"I don't look at the rivals, because I'm already missing not being worried about what happens in other games. We simply focus a lot on our own game, and if we win we will be top."

The coach reviews a comeback win against Gil Vicente FC

After Sporting CP's 3-1 win over Gil Vicente FC which made the team sole leaders of Liga Portugal, coach Rúben Amorim analysed the match. He considered that, despite having trailed, his team deserved the three points and could have come away with a better result.

“Although we started very well, Gil Vicente FC managed to slow the game down and made it 0-1 on perhaps the only occasion that they reached our goal. Then we regained control, scored the equaliser and in the second half we were clearly the better side”, he began by telling journalists.

“We managed to push the opponents towards their goal and, with the quality of our players -which with all due respect is different to that of Gil Vicente FC-, we managed to make a difference. It was a fair victory, which could have seen more goals from Sporting CP," he emphasised.

The coach acknowledged the importance of Viktor Gyökeres, who scored twice, but rejected the idea that the team depend too much on the striker.

“We are not 'hostages' to Viktor, but the influence he has had, not only for the goals, but also in stretching the game and exciting the fans, is huge. It's clear to everyone that he is the most influential player and has a prominent role, but the season is very long and everyone will have that role. If he is becoming an important player there is no way to hide it."
 
He later explained why he introduced Jeremiah St. Juste, Geny Catamo and Matheus Reis at half-time, justifying the decision with the need to change the team's way of playing.

“We had a very strong start, but then we conceded the goal and the game wasn't flowing. We tried to change the way we played, but to do that we had to switch players. It was a little unfair for those who came off [Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Esgaio and Nuno Santos], but the idea was to improve the team and we achieved it because we changed the opponent's reference points. This is a something in favour of the team now: We are able to change positions and this makes the task for the opponents more difficult."
St. Juste was only on the field for 22 minutes because of a bad fall in which he twisted his foot, but Amorim confirmed that he had not suffered damage to his knee or any muscle problem.

The coach also addressed the fact that this it was the team's fourth comeback from behind this season.

“This year is easier for us, because we are fighting for every trophy. That helps. Furthermore, not only do we have another capacity, but the fans are helping us. Even though we always want to win, when we suffer, the fans push us towards greater tranquility. We deserved the comeback, we continued to play as normal, we created many chances and turned things around with some degree of naturalness."

Finally, Amorim was also asked about what it was like to be back as outright leaders of Liga Portugal, a question to which he responded with a resounding “it's the same” as there are still many matches to be played.

“A lot of teams will still drop points. It's a very difficult league and this could change from matchday to matchday. We have our objective, but we go game-by-game. If we win the next match we will definitely be in the lead; that is the thinking process,” he concluded.

A 3-1 win over Gil Vicente returns Os Leões to the summit

Sporting Clube de Portugal moved back to the position of outright leaders in Liga Portugal, defeating Gil Vicente FC 3-1 in the closing game of Matchday 12.

They started out at a disadvantage, thanks to Rúben Fernandes' goal for the visitors, but gave an emphatic response as Nuno Santos equalised before the break and, in the second half, Viktor Gyökeres scored twice in the space of just four minutes.
Rúben Amorim returned Nuno Santos and Marcus Edwards to the starting XI, as well as Sebastián Coates – who was honoured with a special shirt worn by the team onto the pitch, celebrating his becoming the foreigner with the most games played for Sporting CP.

Gil Vicente came into the game in 13th place and still winless away from home.

Playing in Alvalade, in front of their home crowd, Sporting CP showed they wanted to get ahead early on. In the opening moments of the match, Morita was set up to score from close range, before Félix Correia snatched the ball away from him. Before the first ten minutes were out, Gyökeres thought he had scored, but was offside.

As the pace dropped, the home team remained on top. Gyökeres found himself in space and Edwards broke through the lines through his technical skill. However, in the 34th minute, Gil Vicente FC, against the run of play, made it 0-1 through Rúben Fernandes, who headed in a free kick.

The response was almost immediate. After Gyökeres was just centimetres away from meeting a cross in, in the 43rd minute Nuno Santos took advantage of a poor clearance to bring Sporting CP back on terms, with a shot that hit Pedro Tiba before entering the net.

Before half-time, Pedro Gonçalves could have made it 2-1, but he sent his effort over the crossbar.

For the restart, Amorim made three changes, with Jeremiah St. Juste, Geny Catamo and Matheus Reis coming on. His team came back out with the same intensity they had shown at the end of the first half, and Ricardo Esgaio gave the first warning, forcing Andrew into a parry away.

Then, the Viktor Gyökeres Show began. The team's top scorer struck twice in quick succession, first smashing the ball in from the heart of the area when Gil Vicente failed to clear, then in the 56th minute knocking in a cross from Pedro Gonçalves, increasing the lead to 3-1.

Always switched on and far superior to their opponents, Sporting CP then suffered a setback with Jeremiah St. Juste being forced to go off due to injury, being replaced by Eduardo Quaresma.

Soon after, Gyökeres had another goal disallowed for offside. Os Leões then withdrew in the final 20 minutes, so as not to take any risks, allowing more of the ball to Gil Vicente but with Adán never truly tested.

Gyökeres was on the verge of a hat trick, first with a shot saved by the goalkeeper and then with a long strike that went just outside the post. The newly introduced Paulinho also tried his luck, but the score remained 3-1 at the final whistle.

With this triumph, Sporting CP are now two points clear of SL Benfica in second place, and three clear of third-placed FC Porto.
Next up is a demanding trip to Guimarães to face Vitória SC on Saturday, before returning to European action, on December 14th, in the final UEFA Europa League group stage game against SK Sturm Graz.
 
Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Ousmane Diomande, Sebastián Coates [C], Gonçalo Inácio (Jeremiah St. Juste, 45', Jeremiah St. Juste, 67'), Ricardo Esgaio (Geny Catamo, 45'), Hidemasa Morita , Morten Hjulmand, Nuno Santos (Matheus Reis, 45'), Marcus Edwards, Pedro Gonçalves (Paulinho, 84') and Viktor Gyökeres.

​Os Leões come back to draw 1-1 with the Italian side

In the 56th minute, Edwards scored the equaliser: First he passed to Gyökeres and, after the return ball, he got beyond Djimsiti and ran to the center of the area, shooting accurately to make it 1-1.

For now, the next European game is on December 14th, in Alvalade, in a dead rubber with SK Sturm Graz.

The coach talks before the UEFA Europa League press conference

Monday training began preparations for the Europa League

Sporting Clube de Portugal trained on Monday morning at the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Alcochete.

The players used for the longest amount of minutes in the previous night's 8-0 win against Dumiense FC/CJP II, in the Fourth Round of the Taça de Portugal, did recovery training, while the rest worked under the orders of coach Rúben Amorim.

The squad are already preparing for the trip to Italy, where Sporting CP will face Atalanta BC on Thursday, on the fifth matchday of the Europa League group stage.

Os Leões have another training session scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Sporting Clube de Portugal sweep aside Dumiense FC/CJP II

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat Dumiense FC/CJP II 8-0 in the Fourth Round of the Taça de Portugal, advancing in the cup competition at the expense of the lower division opposition.

Coach Rúben Amorim made several changes to the starting XI for the clash with the team that compete in the fourth tier of the Portuguese football pyramid, with the notable returns of Franco Israel, Luís Neto and Geny Catamo. On the substitutes' bench, Sporting CP handed a callup to Diogo Pinto, a 19-year-old goalkeeper.

Sebastián Coates reached 342 games for Sporting CP, matching Anderson Polga as the foreigner with the most official appearances for the club and entering the Top 10 for all players, level with Pedro Barbosa.

The first half was not much different to what had been expected: Sporting CP dominated, even though the visitors showed good organisation, and found the net in just the eighth minute, when Luís Neto met Nuno Santos' corner with a header into the back of the net. It was the defender's first goal for Sporting CP.

Several attacks from the home team followed, including a move between Geny Catamo and Paulinho in the tenth minute, and Francisco Trincão's two shots that were saved by goalkeeper Pedro Costa.

Afterwards, both Geny Catamo and Francisco Trincão saw their efforts blocked by opposition players, but the second goal nevertheless appeared in the opening half hour.

Again following a corner by Nuno Santos, Matheus Reis headed towards the near post and Sebastián Coates deflected it onto the woodwork. Off the rebound, Paulinho made it 2-0.

Until the break, Sporting CP continued to impress, with chances for Geny Catamo, Paulinho and Daniel Bragança, but the scoreline did not change any further.

In the first minute of the second half, Paulinho received the ball from Daniel Bragança and set up Francisco Trincão with an excellent backheel pass. The number 17 kept calm to score his first goal in 2023/2024.

With Marcus Edwards brought on in place of Ricardo Esgaio, Sporting CP came very close to scoring again in the 52nd minute, when Trincão picked out Morten Hjulmand for a header that Pedro Costa saved.

However, in the corner kick that followed, Santos turned provider again: A cross from the Portuguese was knocked in by Coates for the fourth goal of the game.

Shortly afterwards, Morten Hjulmand crossed perfectly for Paulinho and he also headed to score.

Dumiense FC/CJP II had a rare opportunity in the 62nd minute, when Diogo Ribeiro nodded wide, and Rúben Amorim made adjustments to introduce Dário Essugo and Viktor Gyökeres, removing Daniel Bragança and Geny Catamo.

Pedro Costa denied Paulinho another goal with a notable intervention a few moments later, but the striker completed his hat-trick in the 71st minute, benefiting from great work by Viktor Gyökeres, who set up the Portuguese international's skilful finish with his heel.

With 15 minutes remaining, Gyökeres was brought down by Pedro Costa in the area and referee Bruno Pires Costa signaled for a penalty kick. Santos converted to make it 7-0.

Dumiense FC/CJP II tried to score a consolation goal again in the 82nd minute, but Franco Israel saved Joãozinho's shot with ease.

Gyökeres rounded off the scoring from a ball that appeared to present no danger. With speed, strength and technique, the forward took the defence out of the equation and threw and smashed his strike in to cap the 8-0 triumph.

Os Leões will now travel to Italy to face Atalanta BC in the UEFA Europa League.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Luís Neto, Sebastián Coates [C] (Eduardo Quaresma, 76'), Matheus Reis, Ricardo Esgaio (Marcus Edwards, 50'), Morten Hjulmand, Daniel Bragança (Dário Essugo, 62'), Nuno Santos, Geny Catamo (Viktor Gyökeres, 62'), Francisco Trincão e Paulinho.

The coach wants a serious showing against Dumiense FC/CJP II

This Sunday at the Estádio José Avalade, Sporting Clube de Portugal host Dumiense FC/CJP II in the Taça de Portugal. Rúben Amorim previewed the match in his press conference.

"We are playing at home and we have a greater responsibility to have a competitive, attractive game, because people are coming to see us and the opposition deserve it. We took advantage of these two weeks off to work on the gaps that we still have and that we demonstrated in the last few games. We didn't have a great performance in the derby, even though we were the better team," he told the media.

"We have a lot of things to improve. We have players back, such as Geny [Catamo], who is ready to play. We worked on some nuances that I think will be important for the future. We have made the most of every minute and tomorrow we want to present a competitive team, play well, win and go through to the next round."

"We want to win the competition, both the coaching staff and the club. Sporting CP have a history in the competition, but haven't won it for some time," he added.

 Amorim also assured that all the group's attention is on the challenge with Dumiense FC/CJP II: "There are players who won't play tomorrow, but it's not because they lack rhythm or not. It's because we have worked on some routines that we want to see in the match tomorrow, which we want to win. We will take everything into account and our focus is on this game, not on the one against Atalanta BC."

"The players are fighting for places and, if they want to play in the next games, they have to perform well. Regardless of whether the opposition are from a lower level, we have to make the game enjoyable for our fans. We won't go into it asleep."

Asked about Sporting CP's intentions for the next transfer window, Amorim considered that his team must "take into account players who we have received certain approaches for and prepare for the future. This study is being carried out and we will try to safeguard everything. We cannot cover all positions and that is why there are players from the youth team playing right now," he explained.

Finally, before revealing that Luís Neto will start against Dumiense FC/CJP II, he revealed the reason for not using Jeremiah St. Juste in this match.

"Jeremiah St. Juste is coming off a difficult time. He is ready to play. Ousmane [Diomande] is going to the African Cup of Nations in January and we have to strengthen him. We looked at this game, we have other options and he did more specific gym work. We are creating balance in his body and doing a kind of microcycle. We took a bit of a risk, but we are making him stronger to be more protected in January," he said.

Sporting CP win against Atlético CP in a friendly encounter

This Monday, Sporting Clube de Portugal played a preparatory game against Atlético CP, beating them 8-1.

Against a team that compete in Liga 3, the third tier of Portuguese football, Rúben Amorim chose an XI made up of Antonio Adán, Matheus Reis, Jeremiah St. Juste, Sebastián Coates, Marcus Edwards, Nuno Santos, Luís Neto, Francisco Trincão, Paulinho, Daniel Bragança and Ricardo Esgaio. Diego Calai and Alexandre Brito also played.

The goals for Sporting CP were scored by Nuno Santos, who found the net five times, and by Paulinho, who got a hat-trick.

Geny Catamo and Iván Fresneda underwent treatment, while Pedro Gonçalves worked in the gym and on the pitch.

Sporting CP will return to training on Thursday morning.