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| Monday, 20 August 2012 08:41 |
Sporting draw a blank in GuimarãesVitória de Guimarães 0-0 Sporting  Sporting failed to capitalise on their rivals dropping points with after a tame 0-0 draw away to Vitória de Guimarães.
Both sides fielded debutants for the start of the new Liga season. Rui Vitória selected the well-named André André in midfield. Ricardo Sá Pinto began the game with three new signings: Marcos Rojo, Khalid Boulahrouz and Gelson Fernandes.
The game started off brightly with a great atmosphere inside the Dom Afonso Henriques. Both teams started off well and looking to create opportunities early on.
Early Carrillo chanceIt was Sporting who had the first opportunity on goal when André Carrillo forced a save out of Douglas after some great build-up play by the away side. The first Guimarães chance came from a Barrientos shot as he forced a solid stop out of Rui Patrício from a long-range shot.
The best chance of the first half came after twenty minutes when André Carrillo’s close range toe-poked effort was well saved by Douglas. There had been some desperate defending by Rui Vitória’s men in the build-up but the home side managed to survive.
As the half went on Guimarães started to enjoy more possession but failed to break down a new-look Sporting defence.
Sporting made a substitution for the second half with André Martins coming on to replace Adrien Silva, with Ricardo Sá Pinto looking for more guile in the attacking third.
Despite a strong opening to the second half for Sporting, the game started to lose its tempo as both sides failed to create clear-cut opportunities. The most telling aspect of the game is the impressive card counted amassed by referee João Capela, who booked nine players in total as the game was frequently interrupted by free kicks and stoppages.
Soudani comes closeMidway through the second half Guimarães had their best opportunity when Soudani headed just past Rui Patrício’s post. Vitória had another short spell of the game in command of the ball but Sporting’s new centre-back partnership of Rojo and Boulahrouz looks like it had the makings of one of the better Sporting defences in recent years.
Ricardo Sá Pinto tried another roll of the dice when he brought on Zakaria Labyad for Gelson Fernandes but still Sporting were unable to find a way through. In the end it was a disappointing start to the season for Sporting missing out on an opportunity to steal an early march on title rivals Porto, Benfica and Braga.
For Guimarães though there will be more reasons for optimism. Even though they have had to clear out a large portion of their squad due to financial constraints, they played well in the season opener.
Vitória de Guimarães:
Douglas, Alex, N’Diaye, Defendi, Bruno Teles, El Adoua, André André, Ricardo, Barrientos (Marco Matias, 62’), Toscano (Lalkovic, 87’), Soudani.
Sporting:
Rui Patrício, Cédric, Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo, Insúa, Gelson Fernandes (Labyad, 72’), Elias, Adrien (André Martins, 46’), Carrillo, Wolfswinkel, Capel (Jeffrén, 89’)
by Richard Cole
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Best positive I took from the game was how after just one league game, Sporting's defense looks pretty solid, much more so than last season. Rojo and Boulahrouz look really good and there is further depth with Xandao, Carrico and Onyewu. Cedric and Insua played well, but Insua could have definitely pushed the attack up more on his flank. Sa Pinto's strategy of playing with two Defensive mids also closes up the lanes for attackers and I see Sporting's defense doing quite well this year.
But this is what could already be a demoralized Guimaraes squad, so Sporting might have missed on a wonderful opportunity.