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| Thursday, 20 October 2011 22:21 |
Matias Fernandez keeps Sporting bubblingSporting 2-0 Vaslui Sporting had little trouble in seeing off Vaslui tonight to virtually book both qualification and first place in Group D of the Europa League. Sporting’s task was made easier by the sending off of Wesley on 38 minutes. Man-of-the-match Matias Fernandez set up the opener for Evaldo shortly before half time with some delicious skill and scored the second himself.
Even with six players out who would probably make Domingos Paciencia’s first choice XI (Insua, suspended, Elias, ineligible, Onyewu, Rodriguez, Jeffren and Izmailov, all injured) Sporting continued to look an infinitely more solid outfit than was the case in either of the previous two seasons. Tonight’s victory made it eight consecutive wins in all competitions for the Lions, a run that would have been unthinkable in the not-too-distant past.
Good harrying from Pereirinha created an opportunity for Sporting in the very first minute, with Fernandez’s shot charged down by a defender. If the crowd of nearly 30,000 thought that was signal for a champagne performance from the hosts, they would be mistaken. Sporting dominated possession but were far from their fluid best and found it difficult to carve out chances against the resolute Romanian defence. Wolfswinkel hooked narrowly over the bar from Evaldo’s cross on the half hour, but Cerniauskas in the Vaslui goal was largely untroubled.
Wesley’s red mistA moment of madness reduced Vaslui to ten men in the 38th minute. Striker Wesley, who played for Leixoes earlier in his career, was incensed at not being awarded a penalty after tangling with Joao Pereira and decided to exact immediate revenge on the Portugal right-back. The Vaslui captain ran after Pereira and head-butted him to the ground, leaving the referee with no choice but to brandish the red card.
Sporting did not waste time in making their numerical advantage count. Fernandez picked up the ball in the Vaslui box, waltzed to the byline and sent a low cross into Evaldo’s path who could not miss from one yard out.
The second half continued to be one-way traffic. Rui Patricio was not called on to make a single save. Sporting’s build-up play could be described as patient or pedestrian, depending on you point of view, but the chances began to appear on a more regular basis. Capel, Polga and Carrillo came close to scoring, while Schaars was unlucky to see a thunderous shot crash back into play off the post, but it was left to Matias Fernandez to make the game safe. The Chilean produced a classy finish under the goalkeeper after being set free by Carrillo.
With the other match in the section ending 1-1 between Zurich and Lazio, Sporting have a 7-point cushion at the top of the table at the halfway stage of the group phase.
Sporting:
Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Daniel Carrico, Polga, Evaldo, Matias Fernandez, Rinaudo, Schaars, Pereirinha (Carrillo, 61), Van Wolfswinkel (Bojinov, 74), Capel (Andre Martins, 78) Goals: [1-0] Evaldo, 42 [1-1] Matias Fernandez, 69
Tom Kundert
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It's a bit disappointing to only see the Lisbon clubs rack up good coefficients in match day 3. We would of been quite comfortably ahead of France had Porto and Braga won. Hope to see all 4 teams win in match day 4.
They put on a good show for the home crowd. I was a bit disapointed that only 28,106 showed up for this one, but it was a Thursday night game.
This win is huge, because advancement is almost in the bank. It will allow them to not have a slip in league play.
On a side note, Lazio is clearly concentrating in Serie A play, which will be great for our coefficient.
This is excellent news Liga Sagres...Porto's dominance turned our Liga into a snooze fest, unless of course you're a Portista