​Sporting CP come back from behind at the Estádio José Alvalade

Sporting Clube de Portugal bested Casa Pia AC 3-1 at home on Matchday 10 of the Liga Portugal season. The team bounced back from a 0-1 deficit at halftime, with goals from Paulinho, Nuno Santos and Pedro Gonçalves in the second half.

Rúben Amorim made three changes to the starting lineup, bringing Antonio Adán, Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Gonçalves in to replaceFranco Israel, Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Paulinho. On the substitutes bench, young talents Chico Lamba and Mateus Fernandes were called up for the squad.

The first half was almost exclusively one-way traffic, with two rare exceptions. Sporting CP dominated in terms of shots, possession and corners, and had several chances to score. The first came just five minutes in, when Pedro Gonçalves sent in a corner, a defender deflected it and Marcus Edwards, at the far post, headed wide when in an excellent position.

Another great chance followed, this time with Gonçalves shooting. Casa Pia AC goalkeeper Ricardo Batista - a former Sporting CP player - made the first of a number of quality saves.

The first exception to the trend came in the 15th minute, when Casa Pia AC, on a counterattack, hit the post through Clayton. Sporting CP reasserted their dominance in the opposition area soon after, when Pedro Porro headed and was denied by Batista.

In the 33rd minute, a strong shot from Gonçalves was again saved, and Batista also got down to deny Hidemasa Morita.

Just before the break, Casa Pia AC got their second opportunity, and managed to convert it. On another counterattack, Clayton put the ball into the back of the net and gave the visitors a 0-1 lead.

Chico Lamba came on at halftime in place of José Marsà, to make his debut for the Sporting CP first team.

In the first minute after the restart, Manuel Ugarte had a shot tipped away by Batista. Gonçalves followed up with a shot into the side netting, and Francisco Trincão, at the conclusion of a great solo move, hit the post.

The equaliser seemed inevitable, and came in the 57th minute. An excellent arching shot by Porro, with his left foot, stung the hands of Batista, but this time Paulinho was on hand to finish off the rebound with his head.

Two minutes later, Porro served up a cross for Nuno Santos and he finished first time, to the delight of the fans at the Estádio José Alvalade.

With momentum in their favour and about half an hour remaining, Sporting CP kept up the pressure. Porro - who had been involved in the previous two goals - shot wide from a good chance.

In the 64th minute, a penalty kick was awarded after Marcus Edwards was brought down in the Casa Pia AC area. Gonçalves converted coolly to take the score to 3-1.

Arthur Gomes came on to replace Gonçalves and, in the 78th minute, Mateus Fernandes was introduced to make his debut. Flávio Nazinho replaced Pedro Porro.

Nazinho came close to scoring in one of the first interventions, but the ball went wide of the post. Fernandes also tried his luck with a shot in a dangerous area, striking over the top.

The game ended 3-1, returning Sporting CP to winning ways and preparing them for a Wednesday visit to Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [C] [Gk], Gonçalo Inácio, José Marsà (Chico Lamba, 46'), Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro (Flávio Nazinho, 78'), Manuel Ugarte (Mateus Fernandes, 78'), Hidemasa Morita , Nuno Santos, Francisco Trincão (Paulinho, 54'), Pedro Gonçalves (Arthur Gomes, 72') and Marcus Edwards.

The coach laments the elimination from the Taça de Portugal

In the aftermath of the defeat for Sporting Clube de Portugal at the hands of Varzim SC in the Taça de Portugal, Rúben Amorim analysed the cup elimination in his post-match press conference.

"We controlled almost the entire game, as is normal in the circumstances. We often reached the last third, but showed an inability to score and to make good decisions. One of the few balls that came near our goal went in and made everything more difficult," he stated.

"Sometimes it's easy in the cup, but I felt that my players didn't make it easy for themselves. They showed an inability to score goals."

After revealing that "there will be no attack on the transfer market in January, the coach explained that Sporting CP "have kids in training and need to start another cycle like we did in the coaching staff's first year here."

"We are a little limited in ideas, but the responsibility belongs to the coach. Then there are phases in which everything bad happens, and it seems to me that this is a phase like that. It becomes difficult to explain," he added.
Finally, Amorim set out the plan for turning things around.

"Winning games. We all know what it's like at a club like Sporting CP. The recent past was similar and we know the impact it has on people and those responsible, like me. The only thing that we can do is win games and keep a cool head. This will be resolved, but not now. Now, it's about looking ahead and trying to support the players. I'm aware of that, and I have the strength for it."

The team lose 1-0 to Varzim SC

Sporting Clube de Portugal fell to a shock defeat to Varzim SC in the Taça de Portugal, exiting the competition in the Third Round stage.

Coach Rúben Amorim made several changes to the starting XI, rotating his squad to bring in José Marsà, Pedro Porro, Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Paulinho. They replaced Sebastián Coates, Ricardo Esgaio, Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Gonçalves, who had started against Olympique Marseille.

Notable on the substitutes bench was the presence of Jovane Cabral, in his first involvement of 2022/2023, and youngsters Diogo Travassos and Renato Veiga. 

As expected, Sporting CP had more of the ball and put Varzim SC on the ropes early In the eighth minute, Francisco Trincao shot over the top and, shortly after, Gonçalo Inácio had his first great scoring opportunity: Off a corner kick from Nuno Santos, the defender headed just a few centimeters over the crossbar.

A Trincão header wide was followed by Varzim SC starting to move forward, with Paulo Moreira shooting unsuccessfully from a direct free kick.

Around half an hour in, Trincão appeared to be in an excellent position to score, but was unable to get the shot off well. A few minutes later, Pedro Porro ran well down the right and fired a shot that bounced off the post.

Both Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Hidemasa Morita tried their luck from outside the area before the interval, but the game went into halftime with the score at 0-0.

The start of the second half saw two changes: The appearance of rain and the introduction of Pedro Gonçalves in place of Sotiris Alexandropoulos. In the opening minutes, Nuno Santos shot from distance, wide of the post.

In the 54th minute, Varzim SC threatened off a free kick on the right, which Julián Bonilla headed into the mixer and Bruno Bernardo deflected out.

Sporting CP once again created danger, as Paulinho had two consecutive attacks and Morita hit a powerful drive off target.

Manuel Ugarte and Fatawu came in for Marcus Edwards and Pedro Porro, with Gonçalves moving into the attacking trio. In one of his first interventions, Fatawu struck into the side netting.

Against the run of play, Varzim SC scored in the 70th minute. Following a free kick on the right, an interception by Paulinho sent the ball to the far post, where João Faria got the final deflection and made it 1-0 to the home team.

With a quarter of an hour to go, Amorim brought in Rochinha. Close to the 90th minute, Cabral had his turn to play his first minutes of the campaign, replacing Nuno Santos.

Sporting CP pushed for the equaliser, but it was not to be and Varzim SC eliminated them from the Taça de Portugal.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GR], Gonçalo Inácio [C], José Marsà, Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro (Fatawu, 59'), Sotiris Alexandropoulos (Pedro Gonçalves, 46'), Hidemasa Morita (Rochinha, 76'), Nuno Santos (Jovane Cabral, 84'), Francisco Trincao, Marcus Edwards (Manuel Ugarte, 59') and Paulinho.

​The coach states his side's desire to win the Taça de Portugal

Sporting Clube de Portugal open up their Taça de Portugal campaign this Sunday, travelling to Barcelos to face Liga 3 side Varzim SC.

“Varzim SC haven't lost in the league yet and the teams that haven't lost, in addition to their ambition, enjoy moments in which everything goes well," warned Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim in his pre-match press conference.

"They are a team well put together by Tiago, who have already beaten a team from a higher division, and a club with a strong identity and spirit. We have Neto on our team, who knows this spirit that they have well. That's why we expect a battle, a cup game in which we will be responsible and want to win."

"This is a tournament that this coaching team have not yet won at Sporting CP and the club have a lot of history in this competition. Therefore, winning it is one of our goals," he told journalists.

Even though the team have several players missing, Amorim made it clear that he will, as always, field the best starting XI to win the game.

“Franco will play because he gave a great response in midweek. Coates will not play and Inácio will be the captain. Sotiris will also play and Jovane will be in the squad," he informed on Saturday.

The coach also spoke about the defeat against Olympique Marseille, saying: “I won't say it was the defeat that affected me the most, but it was a difficult week. We couldn't compete with Olympique Marseille. We made mistakes, we couldn't compete and that creates frustration, whilst at other times we have tried to fight back and we couldn't because they were simply better sides – I'm talking about our games with Ajax and Manchester City. It wasn't the hardest defeat to digest, as there's not much to take away from these games and we know what happened, but maybe it was the most difficult week and we saw that at the end of the game."

“The only way to turn this around is to win games. Therefore, we have to win against Varzim SC and then against Casa Pia AC. The fans have every reason to be upset, especially with the coach, because we aren't putting together a run of wins in a row and because we lost a favourable situation in the Champions League. That causes everyone frustration. It's about staying focused, and there's a lot to gain," Amorim concluded.

The coach reflects on the loss in the UEFA Champions League

In his post-match press conference following the defeat against Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Champions League, Sporting Clube de Portugal coach Rúben Amorim analysed the performance from his side.

“We didn't get into the game too well, as we were in a hurry to get the ball upfield. The game was scrappy, and then off a rebound the ball was loose and there was a penalty given against us, which came with a red card. This affected the game a lot, once again," he said.

"Then Sebastián Coates went off because he felt an injury problem, and we conceded the second goal, which made everything more difficult. It was more or less the same story as the game away in Marseille.”

Amorim also reiterated his confidence in Ricardo Esgaio, who was shown a red card in the first half.

“I have the utmost confidence in Esgaio, and when I say this I don't mean that I will have him playing all the time or even in the next game. As long as the players give it their best, they'll have the protection of the coach, and Esgaio will have this because him coming in was my choice. When there are individual mistakes, the responsibility is down to me, because I play them. I have confidence in Ricardo Esgaio, and he is probably the one who is a little less confident," he said, also explaining that Pedro Porro was not in the starting lineup because “he could not play more than 25 or 30 minutes."

Amorim then downplayed the fact that the group has become more difficult, with Sporting CP now third with six points and level with second placed Olympique Marseille.

“We knew that the group was evenly matched and tough. The objective remains to win the next two games. The results cannot change the way we look at games. We know the responsibility we have and that is the objective. We are still in the race, everything is open. What matters is how we turn things around.”

In closing, the coach also sent out a message of confidence to the players.

“We are very good in these moments. Whilst everything is very difficult, I know this team can turn it around. I would not be able to sleep if I abandoned my players now,” he underlined.

Two red cards harm the team in a 0-2 defeat

Sporting Clube de Portugal lost 0-2 to Olympique Marseille on Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League group stage, and now find themselves level on six points with the French side in third place.

After Antonio Adán's sending off in the first game between the two teams a week prior, coach Rúben Amorim brought in Franco Israel to make his debut as goalkeeper for the side.

The contest was evenly matched to begin with, until Sporting CP suffered a tough setback 17 minutes in: Ricardo Esgaio received a second yellow card and was sent off in a penalty incident, with Guendouzi putting Marseille ahead from the spot.

With Sporting CP reduced to ten men, Hidemasa Morita was replaced by Fatawu Issahaku, who made his first appearance in the competition, in order to reorganise the team's structure. 

Marseille extended their lead to 0-2 through Alexis Sánchez in the 31st minute.

Amorim responded with changes, bringing in José Marsà and Sotiris Alexandropoulos and taking off Coates and Edwards, which allowed Sporting CP to have more of the ball. On the rare occasions when Marseille broke through, Franco Israel performed well with a pair of interventions.

In the restart after the interval, Trincão was withdrawn for Flávio Nazinho to come on. A more attacking Sporting CP emerged, and in the opening seconds, Matheus Reis broke into the area and saw a shot blocked by an opposition defender.

The opponents, however, took the reins again, as a result of their numerical advantage -extended when Pedro Gonçalves was sent off for a second bookable offence and Sporting CP faced a final half-hour with just nine players on the field.

The pace slowed down a lot and, despite Olympique Marseille having more possession, there were few chances bar off-target shots and a ball that hit the post. 

The game ended 0-2, with Marseille drawing level with Sporting CP in the table -and above them on head-to-head.

The fifth and penultimate matchday of the UEFA Champions League group stage is scheduled for October 26th, with the team traveling to London to face Tottenham Hotspur FC. Before that, they will face Varzim SC this Sunday in the Taça de Portugal.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Gonçalo Inácio, Sebastián Coates [C], Matheus Reis, Ricardo Esgaio, Hidemasa Morita (Fatawu Issahaku, 22'), Manuel Ugarte, Nuno Santos (Pedro Porro, 59'), Francisco Trincão ( Flávio Nazinho, 45'), Marcus Edwards and Pedro Gonçalves.

The coach talks about the game against Olympique Marseille

Sporting Clube de Portugal will face Olympique Marseille this Wednesday at the Estádio José Alvalade, on the fourth matchday for Group D in the UEFA Champions League.

In his pre-match press conference, coach Rúben Amorim praised the attitude of the Sportinguistas, who after the defeat in France last week have responded with a high demand for tickets to support the team.

“It's a great sign because it shows that, even with some bad results -especially in the league- the fans are behind the team. This is very good for us and helps us to work. Tomorrow I expect a full stadium and a lot of noise. We need that because we are going to play against a great team," he began by saying, guaranteeing that his side have learned from what happened in the match held a week ago.

“We have learned a lot from the mistakes in the first game, but also from the second half that we had against CD Santa Clara. This team cannot relax for a second, because when that happens in the UEFA Champions League we suffer and the game can be over for you in the space of nine minutes. We're always learning and we always have to be at our best”, he stressed, emphasising the quality of the opposition.

“Olympique Marseille have got a lot stronger. Before the first game, people looked at the results from their first two matchdays, when they were on zero points and we were on six, but we cannot lose sight of their ability, as they are in second place in the French league. Nevertheless, we want to win because our players have a lot of talent.”

After revealing that Jeremiah St. Juste and Jovane Cabral will not be available, Amorim also confirmed that Franco Israel would step in for the suspended Antonio Adán and reiterated his confidence in the young goalkeeper.

“Obviously he's not as experienced as Adán, but he has to start getting playing time and these moments are useful for that. We have the utmost confidence in Franco and nothing will change for us, because we have such a strong style of play that you can't change it in a week. Rather than worried, we are excited because we are going to watch these young players that we want to be the future of the club."

“He will be prepared because he has been working with us for some time. Also, he is a youth international and was at Juventus, along with stars. In addition to that, he also works daily with Vital and is prepared for everything."

 Amorim also reflected on the first game against Marseille, saying that it will not affect his team's mindset.

“Maybe we were the team that people least believed could go through, but we are in the fight. We want to get the three points, but everyone will remember what happened in the first match a week ago -which is important because we started well. The feeling that we came away with was that, when it was eleven against eleven, we were always dangerous. This certainly stuck in the players' minds and that's good. We cannot be distracted because we are going to face a great team, but I have no doubt that we are capable of winning."

​The coach reflects on the win over CD Santa Clara

After the match in Ponta Delgada, Rúben Amorim held a press conference to analyse the result.

"In the first half, CD Santa Clara were very organised and closed off, and we were patient until we scored. Then we had other opportunities and went into the break without letting them make transitions," he began by telling journalists.

"In the second half, we knew that CD Santa Clara were going to take risks, and that's what happened. We had space behind them to use, but we didn't take advantage of it; we lowered the intensity and lost a lot of duels. The good things from today were, without a doubt, the result and the performance of Antonio Adán, who once again demonstrated his full ability."

Amorim revealed that he was happy with the triumph, but stressed that "there is a lot of work to do."

"We lacked something. We lowered the intensity and we are capable of doing better, although we also had good opportunities. We won, and we will prepare for the next game differently, but I'm happy with the victory and there is a lot of work ahead," he said, before praising the attitude of the opposing team.

"We controlled well in the first half and we almost didn't let CD Santa Clara make an attack. They showed that belief carries a lot of strength, and that's why we were champions in our first season. Football is about these things: It's not always the strongest side who win, and we always have to be at our best. Congratulations to CD Santa Clara for their attitude and congratulations to my players for the victory."

"We know we can do more, but whilst at other times we played well and lost the game, this time we had a little bit of the joy of football come to us."

The coach gave his opinion on the fixture against CD Santa Clara

Sporting Clube de Portugal travels to Ponta Delgada in the Azores this Saturday, for a 3:30pm kickoff in Liga Portugal against  CD Santa Clara.

Before the Matchday 9 game, coach Rúben Amorim assured supporters that the defeat in midweek away to Olympique Marseille in the UEFA Champions League group stage did not affect the team's preparation for domestic action.

"The atmosphere isn't the best after a defeat, but the players are prepared. They realised what happened in the last game, which was atypical, despite it having already happened this season. It is our responsibility and we know that, but we are prepared for CD Santa Clara, because we have to win and climb the table," he said in his pre-match press conference.

"In the same way that some victories don't change the situation, because we always have to win, a defeat doesn't take away our focus either. The preparation was normal, because the level of demand is at a maximum and the objective is always to win."

After revealing that, of the group of players who were unavailable in the last match, only Sebastián Coates is back in the squad, the coach also stated that Antonio Adán will continue in the starting XI and reiterated his confidence in the goalkeeper. networks.

“I do my evaluation at the beginning and end of the week to establish the best eleven players to start the game. Adán continues to have complete confidence; 22 minutes do not erase 92 games and four trophies. Although he, like the other players, has to prove himself all the time, he continued to do his preparation. He didn't have such a good day against Marseille, but he continues, in my opinion, to be the best-prepared goalkeeper to start the game. This game is much more important than the next game against Olympique Marseille, which he will miss through suspension."

CD Santa Clara managed to beat Os Leões at the Estádio São Miguel last season, but Amorim is confident of a win this Saturday.

"We want to win and feel the sensation of putting together victory after victory. Last year we lost, and it was one of the few defeats we had, but that doesn't change anything. We don't have any demons to put to bed and we just want to win the game. We are not at our best. We know that we can win or lose against any team, but we have a lot of desire to win and that is what we will try to do," he stressed.

The Sporting CP player wants all three points against Olympique Marseille

Pedro Gonçalves was present at the press conference for Sporting CP's away game against Olympique Marseille, and underlined the team's ambition.

“We always go out there to win. We are Sporting CP. We know it's a tough game, the potential Marseille have, and that Champions League games are always decided by details, but we'll be prepared to have our best game and take the three points”, he began by saying, adding that the fact that the match will be played without fans in attendance would not have a huge impact on the task ahead.

“We know it's different in a stadium behind closed doors, but we also know that Olympique Marseille have great players, have a lot of potential as a team and are extremely strong -with or without fans. It's going to be a tricky game. We are expecting great opponents”.

“Marseille, despite having zero points in the Champions League at the moment, are having a great league season. We hadn't won in the Champions League at this time last year either and we got through to the knockout stages. That could happen to them this year. We are going to go out there to win and to play our game”.

Asked about his desire to score in the Champions League, Goncalves, currently Sporting CP's top marksman in Liga Portugal with five goals, said that “the main thing is always the team. The important thing is that we have a great game and that we take home the three points. If I score, I'm happy, but when my teammates score, I'm the first to go over to them to celebrate”.

The Portuguese international also spoke of Rúben Amorim, praising his coach. “Everyone knows the qualities he has. He picked me up from FC Famalicão, introduced me to a new position and helped me to assimilate some ideas. I have evolved a lot with him and I hope to evolve even more. He is an excellent coach, he talks to us about everything and I am very happy to work with him”.