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| Thursday, 30 August 2012 22:54 |
Sporting and Marítimo stroll into Europa League group stageLions maul Horsens; Islanders win 2-0 in Georgia Sporting and Marítimo made light work of completing Europa League playoff victories against Horsens of Denmark and Dila Gori of Georgia respectively. Hence, Portugal will have three teams in tomorrow's draw for the Europa League group stage, with Académica having qualified automatically as Portuguese Cup holders.
Sporting 5-0 AC Horsens (agg: 6-1)The ease with which Sporting brushed aside AC Horsens at the Alvalade tonight makes last week's pallid 1-1 draw in the first leg all the more unfathomable. The Portuguese side were streets ahead of their opponents in terms of quality in all areas of the pitch. Only some glaring misses and outstanding saves from Horsens goalkeeper Ronnow prevented an embarrassing night for the Danes.An indication of things to come arrived in the opening moments of the match as what is becoming a typically excellent burst of speed and skill by André Carrillo set up a golden chance for Elias, who could only scoop the ball over a gaping net. Sporting fans did not have to wait long to celebrate the breakthrough however. Boulahrouz played a long ball over the top to compatriot Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who controlled well on his chest and rifled past Ronnow to give the hosts an 8th-minute lead. Centre-back Rojo missed badly twice - a header and a close-range shot - and it was no surprise when the second goal came, with Horsens defender Kortegaard's panicked clearance ending up in his own net. In a tactical nuance compared to Sporting's previous games this season, Gelson Fernandes was the lone defensive midfielder, with Elias playing further up the pitch. Both players looked more comfortable, with Gelson especially not putting a foot wrong. Carrillo special After a lull at the start of the second half Sporting upped the tempo again and completely overpowered their opponents. Wolfswinkel got his second of the night on 54 minutes, turning in a corner. The goal of the game came soon afterwards, with André Carrillo cutting in from the left across the top the box and cracking a magnificent shot into the back of the net off the underside of the crossbar. When Elias made it 5-0 with still around half an hour to play, you began to worry for the Danish outfit. However, the goals stopped there, in no small measure thanks to Horsens goalkeeper Ronnow, who proved over these two legs - unlike most of the team-mates - that he could have a bright future in the game. The 20-year-old made two superb saves to deny Rojo and Capel what looked like certain goals. The victory will give Sporting's players a much needed confidence booster on the back of their three-match winless start to the season. Sporting: Rui Patrício, Cédric, Rojo, Boulahrouz, Pranjić, Gelson, Elias, Adrien, Carrillo, Van Wolfswinkel, Capel Goals: [1-0] Wolfswinkel, 8 [2-0] Kortegaard, 23 (o.g.) [3-0] Wolfswinkel, 54 [4-0] Carrillo, 57 [5-0] Elias, 63
Marítimo booked their place in the group stage of the Europa League for the first time in their history after a mature performance in Georgia resulted in a 2-0 victory. |
It's a shame the Barreiros is having financial problems being completed, it will look a bit stupid having 3 decent European sides travel there with empty stands on 3 sides. A real shame. Hopefully one soon day it will all be sorted.
Also congrats to Paulo Sousa for getting his mickey mouse Hungarian side into the group stage - maybe fate will pair him with one of his former clubs, SCP, Inter or Panathinaikos?