Sporting leave it late, Porto destroy the neighbours

10 January 2016

Jornada 17 in the Liga NOS was action packed to say the least.

There was a top four clash at the Alvalade in Lisbon and also a Porto derby to take in at the Bessa.

Benfica made another trip to Madeira to take on Nacional and, at the other end of the table, Petit’s Tondela were looking for just their third league win of the season.

Sporting 3-2 Braga

Whichever side of the fence you sat on this fixture, the fans present certainly can’t complain about value for money! A five goal haul saw Sporting take the spoils but they left it late to go temporarily 7 points clear at the top of the table.

Braga arrived at the Alvalade having not tasted defeat since the end of November at home to Benfica. Paulo Fonseca’s men sat comfortably in 4th position going into this one, although still some 8 points behind Benfica in 3rd. For Sporting, Bryan Ruiz partnered Islam Slimani up front with João Mário and new arrival from Estoril, Bruno César, providing the width.

Lively start from Braga

Braga clearly did not arrive in the capital for anything other than the win and began proceedings with a chance for Wilson Eduardo who fired narrowly wide from a Djavan cross. And 5 minutes later, Braga were again on the attack as Pedro Santos advanced to just outside of the Sporting 18-yard box before letting rip with a low drive that Rui Patrício was forced to get down to and palm away.

Sporting finally began to get a foothold in the game and created a chance when Adrien Silva threaded the ball through to João Mário in the Braga box. His shot was well-saved by the on-rushing Stanislav Kritciuk between the sticks. And the Russian was called into action again on 28 minutes when a searching ball by Bryan Ruiz bypassed the high Braga backline and found Algerian striker, Slimani, who was bearing down on goal at pace. The striker tried to chip Kritciuk but the ‘keeper was equal to it to maintain the status quo.

Ten minutes before half-time and a João Mário corner was headed against the post by Paulo Oliveira. The ball then ricocheted off of the post and hit the diving Kritciuk before being cleared to safety for Os Arsenalistas. However, the men from the north took the lead 5 minutes before the break when a clever Rafa cut-back in the Sporting box found Wilson Eduardo who fired low and true past Rui Patrício, sending the travelling fans into raptures.

Rafa doubles lead

As Sporting attempted to recover, Braga struck again, just before the break. This time Rafa Silva picked up the ball and ran through the centre of the Sporting defence, which had parted like the Red Sea. Silva proceeded to fire past Rui Patrício to stun the Alvalade yet further and give Braga a comfortable half-time lead.

The second half began with chances for both Sporting and Braga. Resolute defending by the Braga rearguard kept Bryan Ruiz off the scoresheet, while Pedro Santos was denied by Rui Patrício after his fierce drive from range had threatened just minutes later. But Sporting eventually got off the mark on 57 minutes when André Pinto handled a cross narrowly inside the Braga penalty area. Adrien Silva subsequently stepped up and calmly placed the spot kick past Kritciuk, bringing Jorge Jesus’ side back into proceedings.

Just minutes later, a Fredy Montero flick inside the Braga area appeared to strike the arm of Canadian-Portuguese defender, Ricardo Ferreira, but the referee waved play on in this instance. And with 20 minutes left on the clock, a goalmouth scramble saw both Gelson Martins and Islam Slimani denied by solid defending and Stanislav Kritciuk’s reflexes before being cleared to safety.

Sporting fans (and Jesus) in ecstasy

Sporting did eventually find a deserved equaliser on 76 minutes when Adrien Silva’s ball into the box found Fredy Montero completely unmarked. The Colombian had time to control the ball and then turn to fire low past Kritciuk at the Russian’s near post. Cue wild celebrations from Sportinguistas.

With Sporting now scenting blood in the water, Braga decided to launch an attack of their own. Only a superb sprawling save by Rui Patrício denied Rafa Silva a knockout blow after the attacker had beaten Sporting’s offside trap to race clear. But game, set and match duly arrived for Sporting when good work by Bryan Ruiz on the left resulted in a deep cross to the far post and Islam Slimani to head home and seal the points. Overall, 10 out of 10 for entertainment and the passionate celebrations at the end of the game by Jorge Jesus told a story.

Boavista 0-5 Porto

The Invicta Derby at the Bessa on Sunday evening had a bit of everything. Goals, injuries, tough tackling and even crowd disturbances made this an eventful fixture and one which, if it were needed, gave the Dragões full and unadulterated bragging rights in Portugal’s second city. Soporific, this game was not!

As the first game since Julen Lopetegui’s midweek dismissal for Porto, Rui Barros took his place on the bench, albeit in a temporary capacity. Whatever he did in training during the latter part of last week clearly had the desired effect. For Boavista however, it looks bleak. If Erwin Sanchez was unsure about the gravity of his task when he took over at Os Axadrezados, he will definitely be far wiser to it now.

After a reasonably quiet start to the game, Porto took the lead on 11 minutes when André André’s pinpoint pass found Mexican midfielder, Herrera, in acres of space just inside the Boavista box. The Porto man took the ball down on his chest, turned and fired past Gideão, with the aid of the far post. 0-1.

On 36 minutes, Brahimi latched onto a through ball but, with only Gideão to beat, his shot was palmed away and cleared by the Boavista defence. And just prior to the half-time break, a Porto corner was headed narrowly over by Aboubakar from close range after the Cameroon striker managed to slip his marker, Carlos Santos.

Just after half-time, Porto picked up where they left off as Herrera’s through ball was picked up by Aboubakar. However, again Gideão was equal to the striker’s effort and the resulting ricochet ended up clearing the Boavista bar by some distance. Sighs of relief all around the black and white clad support in the Bessa again.

Casillas escapes red card

On 55 minutes, a searching ball down the left-hand side found Luisinho. The Boavista winger advanced with the ball but was caught by a sliding tackle from Iker Casillas who had run some distance from his goal to play the sweeper keeper role. The Spanish international was perhaps fortunate to see only yellow, much to the ire of the majority of the Bessa crowd, and also the entire Boavista bench.

Porto finally grabbed their second goal of the evening on 67 and, again, it was “Fabricada en Mexico”. A superb run by Corona saw him beat two casual challenges before running into the box and firing a low shot past Gideão and into the far corner. 0-2.

Rui Barrios’ side had further chances to increase their lead but had to wait until the 72nd minute when a superb ball across goal from the outside of Layún’s right foot found Vincent Aboubakar. The Cameroon international was sprinting into the Boavista 6 yard box and tapped simply past Gideão. 0-3.

Boavista thought they had decreased the deficit 2 minutes later when a corner eventually found its way to striker, Michael Uchebo. The Nigerian, who had been released from the club by previous manager, Petit, managed to help the ball beyond the diving Casillas but the linesman had other ideas and ruled it out for offside. Replays show the decision was tight but when things aren't going for you...

Aboubakar at the double

Goal number four for Porto arrived on 81 minutes as Aboubakar again proved the beneficiary. This time he had time and space in the box to head home a Danilo cross from the right-hand side. By this point, even with time counting down, it looked like being a case of “how many” for Porto as they put their neighbours to sword at a canter.

In injury time at the end of the 90, Porto struck their final blow when a corner was turned in at the near post by Danilo Pereira. A deft flick of the heel by the Portugal international midfielder left Boavista’s defenders and Gideão looking at each other for answers but in truth it was superbly executed.

And so manager-less Porto remain 4 points behind Sporting at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Boavista were spared the wooden spoon today as Tondela let a lead slip to lose to Académica. However, that result now leaves the club 6 points adrift of safety and Erwin Sanchez will need to work quickly to turn the fortunes of the side around.

Nacional P-P Benfica

Benfica players, staff and supporters must be sick of the sight of Madeira. For the second time this season, fog beat the Lisbon giants as the game had to be abandoned by referee, Tiago Martins. A new date for the fixture is yet to be announced.