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Thursday, 16 February 2012 20:57

Santos stunner earns Sporting draw in Poland

Legia Warsaw 2-2 Sporting

Andre SantosSa Pinto started his tenure as the head coach of Sporting with a positive result as the Lions twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Legia Warsaw tonight.

A dreadful first-half performance saw the visitors go into the break lucky to be just one goal down following Wawrzyniak's strike. Substitute Daniel Carrico equalised on the hour mark with a header, only for Gol to put the Poles back in front. But a magnificent long-range shot by Andre Santos with the outside of his foot earned Sporting a draw to put them in the driving seat in the tie.

After the shock sacking of Domingo Paciencia on Monday, there was much curiosity to see whether Sa Pinto would shake things up in his first match in charge. Pinto chose not to rock the boat, bringing Schaars and Polga back into the starting line-up and recalling Izmailov in what was a similar set-up to the choices of his predecessor.

Poor first half

Any hopes of an immediate improvement looked forlorn in a tepid first forty-five minutes from Sporting, which appeared a direct extension of the abject display in Madeira on the weekend. Facing a frenetic atmosphere in Warsaw but an obviously limited opposition, the Portuguese team let themselves be completely dominated in the opening half.

Rui Patricio saved what seemed a certain goal early on as an Insua mistake allowed Zyro a free run at goal. The Portugal goalkeeper could do nothing in the 37th minute, however, as Sporting’s defence failed to deal with a cross, leaving Wawrzyniak all the time in the world to poke into the net from inside the six-yard box.

The second half started off in the same vein as Ljuboya was denied by Patricio in a one-on-one. Having survived the scare, Sporting at last began to get a foothold in the match. Carrillo protested loudly that a Polish defender had handled in the box, Matias tried his luck from a free kick, and on the hour mark the equaliser arrived as Carrico, on as a half-time substitute, was first to a Matias cross to nod firmly into the net.

Polga twice came close to putting the Lions ahead, but it would be Legia who retook the lead on 79 minutes. Janusz Gol finished off a rapid breakaway, with Sporting’s defence again committing hari-kari, completely stopping in anticipation of a whistle from the referee for offside that never came.

Santos beauty

It appeared the Lisbon club were heading for another defeat, but late substitute Andre Santos had other ideas. He picked up the ball wide right on the edge of the box, took a couple of steps across the pitch and curled a sumptuous right-footer into the far top corner with the outside of his foot à la Quaresma for a stunning equaliser.

The especially effusive individual celebration was understandable from a player who no doubt feels he was under-utilised by Domingos.

Tonight’s intermittent performance highlights the size of the task facing Pinto, but the new coach will be happy with the outcome of his first match in charge as Sporting look in good shape to make progress to the next round, where they will face either FC Porto or Manchester City.

Sporting:
Patricio, Pereira, Onyewu, Polga, Insua, Rinaudo, Schaars (Carrico, HT), Matias Fernandez, Izmailov (Pereirinha, HT), Wolfswinkel, Carrillo (Santos, 74’)

Goals:
[1-0] Wawrzyniak, 37
[1-1] Carrico, 60
[2-1] Gol, 79
[2-2] Santos, 88

Tom Kundert

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Comments (11)
Legia beaten in Polish league
11 Monday, 20 February 2012 08:42
In the weekend between two Europa League games, Legia Warszawa was beaten away 0-2 by Gornik Zabrze, very famous team in history of Polish football but mediocre league squad nowadays. That exactly doesn't add good morale between the second game v Sporting. Anyway, lots of fans going to Lisbon this week. I heard it will be the biggest group of fans ever on away game of Polish team in European competitions. I heard about 3000 people, but dont know if so much can have tickets in stands for visitors.
Good Result?
10 Sunday, 19 February 2012 18:53
I am sorry but besides the Portuguese Light that was able to draw... and is proof that Portuguese talent is always better for your homegrown teams.. how can a tie against a Polish squad under any conditions be considered a good result.

We must be grasping at straws here because even though Sporting should win easily at home.. a draw against Poland is like tieing the best Indian Turban Premier League Team in a Footie match.. sad day..

Sa Pinto is a moron.. and some real dark clouds are coming in.. it is a sad sad day... Sporting deserves so much better... but of cousre the Wolf God has no Patience.. literally...

It is a pity for such a great club.

Hopefully the Sa Pinto & Wolf God experience are short..
Nice
9 Friday, 17 February 2012 18:04
Was nice to see the Portuguese contingent deliver in this game. If they keep playing like this Pinto will have to make room for them in the starting XI.
.
8 Friday, 17 February 2012 15:20
In a harsh environment, with a terrible pitch and a rocky form, this is a fantastic result. Yes, Sporting CP should be mauling sides like Legia but under the circumstances, this is something to be proud of. What I didn't like is Sporting's reluctance to adapt to the conditions. The near side of the pitch looked horrendous but Sporting insisted on playing it short and wide on that side. Not the best performance but considering what I've seen lately I'm not gonna moan about it
Spoooooooooooooorting!
7 Friday, 17 February 2012 04:47
Caught the first 80 minutes on Twitter, sounded depressing. Found the streaming video when I got back to work. Santos goal was an obvious opportunity turned into a beautiful finish. 2-2 headed home is a good thing. Sporting needed a good thing.
Good Result
6 Friday, 17 February 2012 03:37
Huge relief to finally see a decent result out of SCP after the madness of recent weeks.

As has already been said, it is also good to see SCP's Portuguese contingent being the decisive factor, as this shows that the SCP youth system is still paying dividends. Applause to Carrico and Andre Santos.

Sa Pinto surprised me with the double substitution, but it paid off. Everyone knows that he has a bad temper, but I am willing to give him a fair shot as coach. It's not his fault that Domingos was fired, so I hope everyone unitea behind him. He knows the youth system, so he definitely has the know how to weave youth squad talent into the squad.

The pitch and weather conditions were awful, so glad to see SCP get a positive result in Europe. Lets hope that this is a sign of things to come.

Forca SCP
Homer ref
5 Thursday, 16 February 2012 23:13
Legia's 2nd was a blatant offside. Can't remember a worse decision this season.
Lions
4 Thursday, 16 February 2012 22:50
they did well to come out with the draw, alot of work left to be done.......but, playing at home should be enough to come out of the game positively and advance. Enjoyed that Sa Pinto decided to give the young talent a decent look and some playing time..........We'll see in the next few games what the new coach and team attitude can do.
Sa Pinto Savior?
3 Thursday, 16 February 2012 22:29
Three subs and all of which were Portuguese. I think Sporting needs to stick with their home grown talent in order to turn things around. Nobody thought SCP would be the only team to earn a positive result in Europe this week. Sa Pinto: putting Portugal back in SCP!
Andre Santos
2 Thursday, 16 February 2012 22:06
I'm glad to see Andre Santos come in and score a brilliant trivela. He is an extremely talented player so hopefully Sa Pinto will give him some more playing time.
Well done Sporting!!
1 Thursday, 16 February 2012 21:38
In the first half Sporting weren't as in control of the game as I would have liked. Warsaw somehow seemed to get into our box more than we got into theirs. But they held out well, to be 0-0 at halftime. After Warsaw scored and took the lead Sporting showed great spirit to come back and equalize twice! They deserve respect for that! Two key substitutions Daniel Carrico and Andre Santos - two good Portugese talents - scoring the goals! Very proud of the fighting spirit they showed to earn a good result in Warsaw with two away goals! Sporting can be happy with the result and they should look to do win the game in Portugal! Proud of Carrico and Santos scoring the goals showing that THIS IS PORTUGAL!!! These Portuguese Sporting stars are gonna be a vital component with Sa Pinto in charge and they will have massive impacts! Looking forward to when Andre Martins comes back as well! Proud of them! SPORTING!!! THE LIONS!!!

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