Van Wolfswinkel spot kick spares Sporting's blushes
Nacional 2-3 Sporting
 Ricky Van Wolfswinkel's late spot kick earned a difficult 3-2 victory for Sporting over Nacional at the Choupana after a back and forth offensive match.
Fielding a side that only included three players from their Europa League victory over Athletic Bilbao, Sporting did not begin the match as well as they ended Thursday's.
After an initial period of dominance from the Madeira side, the lions clawed their way back into the game with a high line which pressured the Nacional defenders in their own half. The away side were able to settle into the game and it did not take them long to earn the advantage.
Young guns make the difference
A free kick on the edge of Nacional's 18-yard box resulted in a scramble. After it struck a wall of defenders, the ball bounced to Santiago Arias who had his shot blocked by a diving Moreno. Latching on to a loose ball, Diego Rubio made no mistake and slotted past Marcelo Valverde to open scoring.
The home side responded with a period of possession play that ended in several crosses being hit into the Sporting box. However, it was the lions who scored again, capitalising on the few chances that they created.
A mazy run from Andre Martins culminated in a layoff to a surging Renato Neto who blasted his strike from outside the box past Valverde to double Sporting's advantage.
The action would not end there as minutes later, Mateus decreased Sporting's lead with a wonderful strike. A looping cross from Candeias was pounced on by the Angolan who, with the outside of his foot, smashed the ball past Marcelo Boeck.
From this point forward, the match was even as both sides surged forward and attempted to create goal-mouth action. Nacional, in particular, looked for the equaliser as Candeias continued to bombard the Sporting box with a plethora of crosses. Sporting, by no means, would be able to play out the remainder of the match and cruise to victory against a determined Nacional side.
The hand of Rubio
Having performed well to this point and certainly impressing manager Sa Pinto, Rubio showed his lack of experience in a foolish manner. Already on a yellow card, the Chilean forward chose to meet a cross from the right with his hand. Referee Carlos Xistra had no choice but to show the youngster his second yellow card. An emotional Rubio left the pitch with his jersey over his head to hide the shame.
Nacional looked to capitalise upon the man advantage by bringing on Keita for the defensive minded Moreno. Pedro Caixinha's risk brought dividends when the Senegal striker's first effort beat Boeck after a deflection from the Sporting defence.
A minute later, Marcal took down substitute Van Wolfswinkel in the box and a penalty was awarded to Sa Pinto's men. The clinical Dutchman made no mistake from the spot to score the go ahead goal for his side.
Nacional would not cease their assault on Sporting's goal as Boeck was forced into two spectacular finger tip saves from a Claudimir free kick and a Candeias header but Sporting would escape with the victory.
By: Victor Ferreira
Sporting:
Boeck; Arias (Jeffren, 65), Onyewu, Xandao, Evaldo; Carrico, Renato Neto (Schaars, 45), Pereirinha, Andre Martins (Van Wolfswinkel, 61), Carrillo; Rubio
Goals:
[0-1] Rubio, 12
[0-2] Renato Neto, 31
[1-2] Mateus, 34
[2-2] Keita, 74
[2-3] Van Wolfswinkel, 77 (PEN)
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If he wants to stay abroad i would imagine he would like to go to Spanish team such as Malaga or a team of that calibre so he can be seen by the likes of Mourinho etc.
Goodluck to Sporting in their game against Athletic, keep up your run boys.
Sporting are now 6 points under Braga with 3 games to go, if Braga are only to get 3 points out of their next 2 games and Sporting manages to win all leading up to the last match of the season (Sporting vs Braga) and Sporting wins by 2 goals, do they finish 3rd?
Last time I knew head to head points came before goal difference in Liga Sagres... or am I wrong?