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Uefa Cup: Sporting hold Rangers to set up Alvalade showdown

Rangers 0-0 Sporting

Sporting gave themselves a great chance of making it to the last four of the Uefa Cup after a 0-0 draw against Rangers in yesterday’s first leg quarter-final match.

In a game of few chances – neither goalkeeper had a serious save to make throughout the 90 minutes – Sporting fully deserved to come away from a competitive fixture in Scotland undefeated for the first time in six attempts.

Much had been made of Sporting’s weakness in the air in the lead-up to the match, but the rearguard were largely untroubled, with Tonel particularly outstanding. The Rangers defence also did well to shackle Liedson and Vukcevic and a goalless draw looked the most likely result long before the final whistle.

The Lisbon outfit may feel they should have nicked a win after finishing strongly, with Liedson missing a good late chance and Polga and Tonel flashing headers just wide from corners in the closing minutes.


Paulo Bento: “It’s a good result but not a decisive one”


With Vukcevic recovered from his troublesome shoulder injury, Paulo Bento sent out a full-strength Sporting side who belied their youth by starting the match in confident fashion.

The busy quartet of Veloso, Romagnoli, Moutinho and Izmailov in midfield ensured the Portuguese team hogged possession to stifle any chance of an early onslaught from the hosts. On ten minutes the excellent Grimi swung a dangerous cross into the box that just evaded the head of the lurking Liedson.

Vukcevic run

Vukcevic was then denied a clear free-kick after a typically marauding run through the middle had the Rangers defence backtracking in panic.

In front of a nearly 50,000 fans Walter Smith’s team, perhaps feeling heavy legs after a draining derby win against Celtic on the weekend, were surprisingly unambitious, seemingly content to concede possession and hit Sporting on the counter-attack.

The Scottish team enjoyed their best period of play in the twenty minutes straddling the interval. As the half-time whistle approached McCulloch forced Patricio into a sprawling save with a firm low shot from 25 metres, and from the resulting corner McCulloch’s header deflected off Abel’s back and just past the post.

The Glasgow team came out in determined mood at the start of the second half, and a good move saw the ball worked to Barry Ferguson, who fired over from a good shooting position.

However, after soaking up a spell of pressure, Sporting looked increasingly comfortable as the match went on. Vukcevic kept McGregor on his toes after working himself a metre of space and firing in a left-foot shot.

Yannick Djalo impact

Bento freshened up his attack with two more players from Sporting’s youth academy, Pereirinha and Yannick Djalo, who replaced Izmailov and Vukcevic respectively. Djalo especially caused Rangers problems with his pace, and after taking advantage of a Weir slip the Portuguese U21 striker fed the ball to Liedson, but the normally lethal Brazilian was let down by poor control and the chance was gone.

The Lions enjoyed a decent spell of late pressure, with both central defenders winning headers from corner kicks but sending their efforts whistling just past the post. All in all a good night’s work for Sporting with the outcome of the tie to be decided at the Alvalade stadium in one week’s time.

Rangers:
McGregor, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, Hemdani, Thomson, Davis, Ferguson, McCulloch, Darcheville (Novo, 71)
Yellow Cards: Ferguson, Weir

Sporting:
Rui Patricio, Abel, Tonel, Polga, Grimi, Joao Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Romagnoli, Izmailov (Pereirinha, 70), Liedson, Vukcevic (Yannick, 75)
Yellow Cards: Izmailov, Grimi, Liedson