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| Thursday, 05 August 2010 22:55 |
Nervy Sporting grab late winner
Sporting 2-1 Nordsjaelland (Sporting win 3-1 on aggregate)
 It was a classic game of two halves at the Alvalade tonight. A bright opening period and a Helder Postiga goal seemed to set Sporting on their way to a comfortable Europa League victory. But Danish opponents Nordsjaelland came back strongly, equalised through Lawan and threatened to pull off a shock until Maniche’s stoppage time pile-driver made the game safe for the hosts.
Paulo Sergio took his place on the bench for his first official home game as Sporting coach in front of just under 30,000 fans on a balmy
On the left flank Valdes and Evaldo were combining well, as were Joao Pereira and Vukcevic on the opposite wing, while Liedson and Postiga buzzed in and around the box with intent. Vukcevic did well to wriggle past his marker before firing into the side-netting in the 18th minute.
Postiga finds his mojo
Shortly afterwards the two strikers combined well to give Sporting the lead. Postiga showed good footwork to put Liedson through, whose initial shot was saved by Hansen. Liedson’s follow-up effort ballooned over the goalkeeper and fell perfectly for the onrushing Postiga to nod into the net.
It has thus taken the former
Valdes and Vukcevic also went close and Sporting will have felt they deserved more than a one-goal lead as they trotted off the pitch at the break.
Turnaround
The second half saw a complete transformation, as Sporting lost their shape and Nordsjaelland gradually grew in confidence. Patricio flapped at a cross but did well to recover and save acrobatically from Mikkelsen, while moments later Nielsen fluffed a glaring chance as he completely missed his kick from point-blank range.
By this time Sporting’s attacking threat was limited to a series of long-range shots from Maniche, and the visitors made the home side pay for their lethargy in the 78th minute as a ball over the top caught out Sporting’s defence and Lawan raced through to dink the ball past Patricio.
Suddenly it was panic stations at the Alvalade. The supporters let their discontent show as they knew one more goal from Nordsjaelland would put the modest Danish outfit ahead in the tie, and Nielsen was inches away from scoring it in the dying minutes with a cross-shot that beat Patricio and sped just past the post.
Maniche thunderbolt
Only in stoppage time were Sporting able to breathe easy thanks to former Benfica and Porto star Maniche. Matias Fernandez released Evaldo with a neat pass. The left-back raced towards the bye-line before sliding an intelligent low cross into the path of the veteran midfielder, who smashed the ball into the top corner with the outside of his right foot.
Sporting, along with Maritimo and FC Porto, will find out their play-off opponents tomorrow, but Paulo Sergio will have learned that the Lions have plenty of improving to do if they want to enjoy a successful season.
by Tom Kundert
Sporting:
Rui Patrício, Joao Pereira, Daniel Carrico, Polga, Evaldo, Andre Santos, Maniche, Vukcevic (Yannick Djalo, 61), Valdes (Matias Fernandez, 71), Helder Postiga, Liedson
Yellow Cards: Liedson
Nordsjaelland:
Hansen, Kildentoft, Parkhurst, Daniel Jensen, Bengtsson, Patrice Bernier (Matti Neilsen, 67), Adu, Stokholm, Mikkelsen (Granskov, 84), Andreas Laudrup (Lawan, 63), Nicki Nielsen
Yellow Cards: Adu
Goals:
[1-0] Postiga, 23
[1-1] Lawan, 78
[2-1] Maniche, 91
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They've looked better this preseason, but the key is to advance.
I don't think that the old legs they are counting on will be able to hold up, but this isn't the forum for it.
I wish them the best. The further they go, the better the Portuguese League will be.