28 October 2007, by Joao Pedro

Nacional hold Sporting to goalless draw

Nacional 0-0 Sporting

Sporting drew 0-0 to drop two points in Madeira against Nacional last night, thus continuing their disappointing run of results. The home team were good value for their point, dominating their opponents for most of the game.

Only in the final minutes did a lukewarm match come to life, with both goalkeepers forced into spectacular saves to avoid late defeat.

The Lions have now gone three matches without a win, but it was the lethargy of the performance which will be more worrying to coach Paulo Bento.

Sporting made two changes to the team that lost at Roma on Tuesday, with goalkeeper Stojkovic recalled in place of Tiago and Marian Had preferred at left-back instead of Ronny. Miguel Veloso continued to deputise for the injured Polga in the centre of defence.

Debutant impresses

For Nacional the major team news was the debut for young defender Igor Pita, who showed throughout the 90 minutes that he looks a promising prospect.

The first half belonged completely to Nacional. Lipatin had the ball in the net on 8 minutes but the strike was ruled out for offside. Avalos, the lively Fellype Gabriel and Lipatin all tried their luck in the opening half but their efforts were either dealt with by Stojkovic or went wide. Sporting’s only attempt on goal in the first half was a weak header from Djalo.

The quality of the match improved in the second half, but only in the final fifteen minutes did a goal look imminent. In the 76th minute Djalo did well to turn on the edge of the box and hit a powerful shot that forced Diego into a sharp save.

Stojkovic wonder save

Five minutes from time Nacional fashioned the best chance of the match from a swift counter-attack, which set up substitute Sales fifteen metres out with just Stojkovic to beat. The striker hit his shot well but the Serbian national keeper produced an astonishing diving stop to the incredulity of the home supporters.

Play immediately switched to the other end where Liedson turned his marker brilliantly but rifled his effort high into the side-netting. In stoppage time both Abel and Joao Moutinho hit dangerous shots from distance towards goal, but Diego was up the task producing two high-quality diving stops to ensure the game ended goalless.

In the post-match interview Paulo Bento acknowledged that Sporting deserved no more than a point saying: “We can’t deny that we’re going through a bad patch. We have to produce more.” Should Porto beat Leixoes on Monday Sporting will fall nine points behind the leaders.

Nacional:
Diego, Patacas, Avalos, Ricardo Fernandes, Igor Pita, Cleber, Bruno Amaro, Juninho, Fellype Gabriel (Edu Sales, 80), Cassio (Rodrigo, 67), Lipatin (Jose Vítor, 76)
Yellow Cards: Patacas

Sporting:
Stojkovic, Abel, Tonel, Miguel Veloso, Marian Had (Ronny, 46), Izmailov (Purovic, 67), Joao Moutinho, Vukcevic (Pereirinha, 67), Romagnoli, Liedson, Yannick Djalo
Yellow Cards: Vukcevic