Pereirinha special sees Sporting ease into Uefa Cup quarter-finals

Sporting 1-0 Bolton Wanderers (agg. Sporting win 2-1)

Sporting moved into the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup after deservedly edging out Premiership side Bolton Wanderers with a 1-0 victory at Alvalade.

Bruno Pereirinha’s brilliantly taken late goal saw the Portuguese through, although the match was low on quality as the visitors rarely offered a serious threat on goal and Sporting made hard work of their opponents.

Bolton arrived with a severely weakened side, again demonstrating that Premiership survival remains their main focus. However, manager Gary Megson’s decision to rest several players resulted in an opportunity for Portuguese forward Ricardo Vaz Te, who made his first start since August.

Sporting had the first chance of the match when Simon Vukcevic’s free-kick was pushed away by Bolton goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, but the Portuguese were soon given a warning by their countryman as Vaz Te raced onto the end of a Nicky Hunt throughball and evaded Anderson Polga before firing into the side netting.

Vukcevic, who had a frustrating evening in attack for Sporting, then had another opportunity to give the home side the lead. Liedson’s tireless running was a feature of the match and the Brazilian caught Bolton defender Abdoulaye Meite in possession, but Vukcevic dragged his finish well wide from the subsequent opportunity.

Izmailov chance

With Bolton offering very little other than the occasional threat from set pieces, Sporting always looked the more likely side to score. However, after Marat Izmailov failed to convert at the back post after Vukcevic’s flick-on from a Pereirinha cross, the hosts laboured through to half time with Leandro Romagnoli and Liedson offering modest attempts on goal from long-range.

Bolton ‘keeper Al-Habsi was called into action twice early in the second half to deny Pereirinha and Liedson, but the game became somewhat flat as the half progressed as hosts were put under little pressure from Bolton, with Sporting boss Paulo Bento introducing Rodrigo Tiui in place of Vukcevic in an attempt to liven up the attack.

Liedson worked hard all evening, and the Brazilian striker will feel aggrieved that he did not reach his European milestone ten minutes from time. Pereirinha showed great acceleration into the right-hand side of the Bolton area before cutting the ball back to Liedson who, with time and space, fired his finish straight at Al-Habsi, who tipped over the crossbar.

Perfect finish

With the game becoming more stretched as the English side tentatively began to search for the goal they needed, Sporting struck through Pereirinha. Again afforded room on the right, the 20-year-old received the ball inside the area and showed great composure to place a left-footed shot across Al-Habsi and into the top corner.

Captain Joao Moutinho came close to doubling the advantage immediately afterwards with a solo run and shot, but Sporting were forced to settle for a narrow but clearly deserved victory and booked their place in the final eight for tomorrow’s draw.

Sporting:
Rui Patricio, Abel, Polga, Tonel, Grimi, Moutinho, Pereirinha, Izmailov (Gladstone, 87), Romagnioli (Adrien Silva, 75), Vukcevic (Rodrigo Tiuí, 66), Liedson
Yellow Cards: Moutinho (38)

Bolton:
Al-Habsi, Hunt, Cahill, Meite, Samuel, O’Brien, Guthrie, Teymourian (Braaten, 71), Giannakopoulos, Vaz Te, Helguson (Woolfe, 76)
Yellow Cards: Teymourian (49) Guthrie (88)

Goals:
[1-0] Pereirinha, 85