19 April 2007, by Tom Kundert

Moutinho brace sends Sporting into Portuguese Cup final

Sporting 2-1 Beira-Mar

Sporting beat Beira-Mar 2-1 at Alvalade last night to book their place in the Portuguese Cup final on 27 May at the mythical Jamor Stadium on the outskirts of Lisbon.

Two Joao Moutinho goals in the first ten minutes appeared to signal a straight-forward victory for the Lions, but Beira-Mar came back strongly, reduced the deficit at the start of the second half and made Sporting work hard for the win.

Sporting came into the game on the back of a five-match winning run, and as has been the case in recent matches the young team made an electric start, playing some excellent one-touch football and threatening to overrun the visitors.

Their dominance was soon translated into goals as Joao Moutinho struck twice in two minutes. In the 7th minute the dynamic midfielder enjoyed a big slice of luck as his attempted cross deceived Beira-Mar goalkeeper Eduardo and looped over the stopper directly into the net.

Almost immediately Djalo raced clear down the right flank before swinging a perfect cross into the box for Moutinho to head powerfully into the net. Tello and Moutinho then threatened again in quick succession from corners as Sporting looked to repeat their 4-0 hammering of Maritimo on Friday.

However, Beira-Mar rallied well and Matheus, Veselinovic, Roma and Diakite all had decent efforts on goal as the visitors looked the more dangerous team until the break. Beira-Mar duly halved Sporting’s lead straight after the break when Diarra took full advantage of a Marco Caneira slip to race through on goal and shoot past Ricardo.

The goal set up a well disputed second forty-five minutes, with Nani, Liedson and Tello going close for Sporting, while Alcaraz almost equalised for Beira-Mar before substitute Edgar forced Ricardo into a fingertip save with virtually the last kick of the match.

The final whistle triggered a mixture of relief and celebrations among the home fans, and Paulo Bento’s team can now focus 100% on trying to overhaul Porto’s four-point lead at the top of the table before closing the season with the showpiece Portuguese Cup final at the end of May.

Sporting:
Ricardo, Abel, Caneira, Polga, Tello, Nani (Tonel, 86), Miguel Veloso, Joao Moutinho, Romagnoli (Pereirinha, 46), Liedson, Yannick (Alecsandro, 72)
Yellow Cards: Polga

Beira-Mar:
Eduardo, Jorge Vidigal, Buba, Alcaraz, Ricardo, Diakite, Andre Leao, Matheus, Veselinovic (Diarra, 46), Vasco Matos (Ribeiro, 83), Roma (Edgar, 63)
Yellow Cards: Andre Leao

Goals:
[1-0] Joao Moutinho, 7
[2-0] Joao Moutinho, 9
[2-1] Diarra, 47