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| Monday, 23 January 2012 22:21 |
Olhanense 0-0 SportingPatricio salvages point for off-colour Lions Sporting fell further behind Braga and Maritimo tonight with a goalless draw at Olhanense, but it would have been worse for the Lions had Rui Patricio not produced a fabulous double save to deny Wilson Eduardo and Yontcha late on. The draw leaves Sporting still searching for their first win in 2012.
Fresh from his first victory as a Liga coach, Sergio Conceicao made just one change to the side that defeated Beira-Mar 2-1 in round fifteen: Fernando Alexandre replacing Paulo Regula in the midfield. Wilson Eduardo, on loan at Olhanense from Sporting, started up front.  The Lions went into the game without the suspended Elias and Bojinov, whilst Rodriguez, Rinaudo and Van Wolfswinkel were not fit enough to make the journey south. During the warm-up, Stijn Schaars became the latest Sporting player to suffer an injury, forcing Domingos to draft Daniel Carrico into the midfield at the last minute. Both sides settled quickly, as the livewire duo of Salvador Agra and Diego Capel looked to run at their respective markers. Sporting had the better of the early exchanges, threading the ball in and around the channels with plenty of application but little reward: Matias Fernandez came closest with a curling free kick that struck the side netting. But the middle stages of the half undeniably belonged to Olhanense. Caue, a summer signing from Leixoes, snuck ahead of Yontcha to meet Rui Duarte’s delivery, but the Brazilian’s header flew just wide. Fabiano pulled off a smart stop to deny Carrillo after a neat one-two between the Peruvian and Jeffren, yet Conceicao’s men were able to slowly but perceptibly raise their line of defence, and force Sporting back into their own half. The aforementioned Salvador and Caue were particularly lively, whilst captain Rui Duarte produced a number of incisive crosses from the multitude of free kicks awarded by Vasco Santos.  Capel stung Fabiano’s palms with a half volley as half time approached, and Joao Pereira made a rare sortie forward to deliver a teasing cross for the Spaniard, but at the halfway point, Domingos had far more to ponder than Conceicao, his former teammate at Porto. His woes almost doubled moments after the re-start, when a swift Olhanense counter attack saw Yontcha crash a sliding effort off the crossbar. Luckily for the snoozing Sporting defence, the flag had been raised for offside. Stung, the Lions marched up the field and almost took the lead. A short corner was worked to Capel on the edge of the box and the Spaniard found Anderson Polga unmarked at the back post, but Fabiano was there to deny the veteran at point blank range. A period of Sporting dominance followed, with Olhanense seemingly content to soak up the pressure and wait for their chance to come on the counter. Jeffren somehow failed to find the target with a snap shot after Fernando Alexandre had tripped over the ball whilst attempting to clear, but as the half wore on; the expression on Domingos’ face grew increasingly pensive.  It transitioned from frustration to resignation during the final 20 minutes, as Sporting were forced to lean heavily on the reflexes of Rui Patricio in order to maintain a foothold in the game. Firstly, the Portugal number one scrambled to his right to beat away a fierce effort from Wilson Eduardo, but that was merely the prelude to the superb double save that followed. A rapid Olhanense counter attack saw Rui Duarte square for Wilson, who looked certain to tap home from the edge of the six-yard box. Yet somehow Patricio got across in time to keep his effort out, and then raised himself to palm Yontcha’s thunderous rebound over the bar. Tempers frayed on both sides during a tense, fragmented finale, and more than one player hobbled off for treatment as the clock wound down. Yet despite the plethora of attacking changes made by Conceicao and Domingos, neither side were able to carve out a clear opportunity after Patricio’s miraculous intervention. The result will be a boost for the home side, but for Sporting, a fifth straight game without a win sees them slip further behind Braga and Maritimo in the battle for the third Champions League spot. Olhanense: Fabiano Freitas; Mexer, Mauricio, Andre Pinto; Ismaily; Caue (Vasco Fernandes 89’), Rui Duarte, Fernando Alexandre; Salvador Agra (Dady 85’), Yontcha, Wilson Eduardo (Toy 81’). Sporting: Rui Patricio; Joao Pereira, Onyewu, Anderson Polga, Insua; Renato Neto (Andre Martins 65’), Daniel Carrico, Matias Fernandez (Andre Santos 76’); Jeffren (Diego Rubio 65’), Carrillo, Capel. Ben Shave |
Where is Agra from?
I fully agree that they will have some serious problems if they don’t make the CL. I still think the fact that they couldn’t afford to fix their pitch and now it looks like they will continue to push that off. Personally I think that status of your stadium/field makes a big difference in how the staff/players feel about the club. When you go to other stadiums like Porto’s, Benfica’s, or even Braga has a better field now, it would make the player feel like they are playing on the smaller team.
I’m not calling Sporting small but people have to understand many of their players have only been there this year, they likely didn’t follow the club in the glory days and therefore don’t have that to pull on. As much as this sport is about talent, motivation/team moral is a massive part of the game. You can see that the team’s moral has been shot down. The coach needs to build that up again but it doesn’t help when the stories about the club are on selling talent to pay the bills and nothing having money to fix their field. Overall having the feeling at being at a big club on the decline.
And the old adage "there is always next season" isn't quite applicable, because of financial decisions made over the summer.
The thing that is really worrying is that if they don't secure a Champions League spot (or playoff spot) for next year, the financial chickens are going to come home to roost, in a very ugly way.
Sporting spent a ton of money over the summer, and even before then the club wasn't in the best of financial shape. They took huge gambles in the hopes of a big payoff in the form of Champions League money next season.
The season isn't over, but unless the results change in a big way, I fear the future is very uncertain.
I have faith in SCP and faith in Paciencia, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't extremely concerned about the club's current predicament. I don't know any SCP fans who aren't concerned at this point.
Hopefully this is just me being a bit pessimistic.
Forca Domingos
Forca Sporting