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| Thursday, 01 December 2011 22:57 |
Lions sail to easy victorySporting 2-0 FC Zurich Sporting ensured they would finish top of Group D of the Europa League with victory over FC Zurich thanks to goals from Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Valeri Bojinov (pictured).
After the past weekend's disappointment in defeat to Benfica, Sporting looked to beat Zurich at the Alvalade to definitively plant themselves at the top of their group. Domingos Paciencia made a couple of changes to his side, mostly due to injuries. Valeri Bojinov started and Andre Martins was handed his full Sporting debut. After an energetic start to the game Sporting started to control possession. Valeri Bojinov forced a superb save out of Johnny Leoni before the Swiss goalkeeper had to follow up Daniel Carrico's effort. Dutch combinationSporting took the lead after just 15 minutes when Stijn Schaars played a lovely throughball into the path of his fellow Dutchman, Ricky van Wolfswinkel. The striker took his shot well with a low drive past Leoni.The goal put Sporting firmly in control as they passed the ball around the full width of the pitch well with Andre Martins, making his first ever start for Sporting, looking very assured on the ball. Although Sporting had plenty of possession they were wasteful in front of goal and as the first half drew to an end it was FC Zurich having the majority of the ball. The second half started off in the same fashion as the first and Sporting soon regained control of the game. The first chance after the restart came to Sporting as Oguchi Onyewu's header from a corner was cleared off the line. Capel assistImmediately after the second goal Domingos Paciencia took Capel off, with perhaps Monday's Taca de Portugal fixture with Belenenses in mind, and replaced him with Bruno Pereirinha. The two-goal margin was enough for Sporting although they were unlucky not to add another goal on top of that tally. Substitute Andre Santos had a shot well saved and seconds later Andre Martins came with a whisker of putting the ball at Ricky van Wolfswinkel's feet for what would have been a certain goal. Zurich were simply unable to retain the ball against a Sporting side that were perhaps made more determined by Saturday's derby defeat. Indeed, goalkeeper Marcelo Boeck will realise his clean sheet was one he didn't have to break a sweat for. The win means the forthcoming game in Rome to face Lazio has become an absolute dead rubber for Sporting who can afford to rest players and focus on the two league fixtures that sandwich that game. Domingos Paciencia will be happy with his side’s performance, in particular Andre Martins was solid on his first ever Sporting start and Valeri Bojinov proved he can score when called upon. Sporting: Marcelo Boeck, Joao Pereira, Onyewu, Polga, Insua, Andre Martins, Daniel Carrico, Schaars (Andre Santos, 68), Bojinov, Van Wolfswinkel (Diego Rubio, 74), Diego Capel (Pereirinha, 60) Goals: [1-0] Wolfswinkel, 15 [2-0] Bojinov, 58 Richard Cole Follow PortuGOAL on Twitter and Facebook |
Winning the group is imperative in getting a possible better draw.
I also like Andre Martins i want both him and Santos to get more of a run.
Schaars and Bojinov are both good players but they also do things that really frustrate me at times but they can both pull a good play out of their butt if they need to.
What do you guys think?
Did anyone else hear about Barcelona's interest in Joao Pereira. They currently don't have a back-up for Dani Alves, so Joao Pereira is on their Christmas wishlist. PSG, AC Milan, Tottenham, and Villareal among other clubs are also reportedly interested in Pereira. He is a very under-rated player so he could definitely play for any of the teams mentioned. But for the sake of the national team, I hope he picks a team where he'll start so I'm hoping that he doesn't go to Barcelona.