Vitória SC 3 Sporting CP 2

Vitória SC v Sporting CP 
December 9th, 2023
Estadio D Afonso Henriques
Matchday 13

The Warm Up

We’re now officially a third of the way through the league campaign. Benfica have just dropped another two points at home to Farense needing to come from 1-0 down meaning we remain in top spot prior to kick off. Dare we allow ourselves to dream for a little bit? You know just a smidgen? Even if we keep it to ourselves and don’t voice it? This league is one of the hardest to win in European football if not world football if your name isn’t either Benfica or Porto. Can we keep Gyökeres fit and if he’s missing for any reason can Paulinho step up and keep finding the back of the net? So many questions and only the coming weeks and months will reveal those answers like the world’s slowest reveal on a scratch card. Get your coins at the ready folks.

If you read the English press you’d believe we’ll be selling half the first team squad in January, ignoring the fact we’re fighting for the title and qualification to the new Swiss style Champions League format. St Juste won’t play again in 2023 having picked up a knock against Gil Vicente having come on at half time as a substitute only to be replaced again twenty minutes later. I’m not sure what he did in his past life but he doesn’t appear to have good karma in this. Diomande will be missing for the African Cup of Nations for a month in January. Inácio is going to be needed and any rest will surely only come in the two Taça’s. I’d be truly gobsmacked if the club sold him before the summer. We know Amorim has his favourite players and Gonçalves has retained his position despite being as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike at some points during the season. He’d be the only one I feel could be let go. Edwards might want to return to his home nation at some point but equally you think the lad would like to leave with a league winners medal around his neck. Lord knows he’ll never get one if he goes back to Spurs. Where are Sporting going to get replacements from in January if they did sell? Some journalists just need to pipe down and frankly just fuck off. Have some respect. The world doesn’t revolve around English football. Arsenal in prime position to sign Diomande... So much of a prime position he’s about to extend his contract and agree to his release clause being raised having turned down their derisory offer in the summer. Do journalists forget English clubs have to adhere to financial fair play? The time for big business is in the summer window. That’s a fact. Sporting have been consistent in their message. If you want someone here’s their release clause – you pay it in full. Gyökeres is now getting the treatment. Geny too. It's flattering to have your players linked but let's wait until the end of April at least please because frankly on the other side of the fence I’m sick of the daily speculation.

So then a Saturday game – rare. 6pm kick off – equally as rare. How do I like my steak? Well done. Vitória are currently the best of the rest sat in fifth place and in Portugal that’s like being second in the Bundesliga behind Bayern München. So you can’t treat this game lightly. They’ve not drawn a game at home in their opening six winning 66.66% of their matches outscoring their opponents 2:1. That’s a better record than that of Porto although that could all change if Sporting win and Porto win in the late kick off. We cannot afford to be complacent. We cannot afford to give away free kicks in dangerous positions (Inácio Vs Gil Vicente). Gyökeres cannot keep carrying his teammates over the line (Morita, Gonçalves, Nuno Santos amongst the guilty parties Vs Gil Vicente). These are the games where you need that hunger and desire, that will to win; the required levels of professionalism and calmness. We should be good enough to not keep trying shots from long range, to recycle possession and to get players into a better positions. The minimum requirement is for a shot to be on target. Don’t be afraid to not have the ball and allow space to open up. Most damage has come in the second half when we’ve conceded that possession and it’s allowed Gyökeres to cause havoc in games. That doesn’t mean defending on the back foot like against Atalanta twice and Benfica but we don’t need 200 passes clocked up between Adán, Coates, Inácio and Diomande. So far other than Benfica away it’s worked but it’s not been entirely convincing. You can only get away with it for so long.

The last Vitória win over Sporting was just shy of five years ago and came in a 1-0 home win in December of 2018 in one of coach Marcel Keizer’s first games in charge. Vitória have collected 1 point from the last possible 27 against Sporting.

The money markets

Odds

Vitória 7/2
Sporting 7/10
BTS 7/10
Sporting win and BTS 12/5 

Probability

1 22.22%
2 58.82%
BTS 58.82%

Given Vitória’s goalscoring record at home, the fact they’ve not drawn and the assumption Sporting will win, 12/5 for Sporting to win and both sides to score would appear to have some legs returning 2.4 on the decimal. 

Team News

I thought my football app must be broken as it showed Esgaio in the centre of a back three in place of Coates. I’ve double checked and he is starting. Whether that’s positionally correct I’d be doubtful. Reis replaces Nuno Santos on the left so you’d think he’s more likely to be able to play in a three or maybe we see a flat back four for the first time with Reis and Esgaio either side of Inácio and Diomande. I’ve just actually physically scratched my head. Not much leaves me perplexed. Guess we’ll have to wait for kick off to see where they line up on the pitch. So technically Geny comes in for Coates.

…Ahhh app has just updated to a back four. So yes as per my guess above. Geny is shown on the left of a three man midfield. As you were up front with no changes from the win over Gil Vicente. 4-3-3 the line up shown

First Half

Vitória’s anthem set to the music of we are sailing seems incredibly apt on a miserable wet night.

3 Home side break the offside trap but the shot from 16 yards by Jota Silva is straight at Adán

4 Gyökeres is fouled on the right in a similar position to where Gil Vicente opened the lead last week. Gonçalves floats the ball to the far post and the danger is cleared for a throw

7 After all my speculating Sporting have lined up with a back three. Diomande is central, Esgaio to the right

8 Following a run down the left Gonçalves cuts back from the goal line and makes space for a shot. His curling effort is saved one handed and out for a corner. Better from him. That’s what we want to see

12 Foul by Esgaio. The referee gives him a talking to. He seems to want the game to flow as much as possible in treacherous conditions. Good to see

14 Game stops for a flare thrown onto the pitch. Not sure which end that’s come from but it was behind Adán who throws it behind the advertising hoardings. That’ll be a fine of €10k plus.

16 Esgaio pulls back Mendes on the half way line and shown the yellow. That was a silly booking

19 Perhaps unsurprisingly given the conditions this game is lacking in quality and is turning into a succession of niggly fouls. If I was at home I’d have told the staff to turn off the heat in the away dressing rooms.

23 Morita played into trouble by Adán on the edge of the 18 yard box. In these conditions just wrap your foot around the ball and launch it clear

24 Beautiful flowing move started by a jinking Geny run on the right ends in a poor final pass out wide on the left. Shame – that looked great on the eye before the final ball

26 Yellow shown to Mangas for an arm in the face of Geny. Not sure there was much contact there. Free kick to Sporting in a good position on the right. Edwards to take. Doesn’t clear the first man. Disappointing. I’d take a 1-0 Sporting win right now. You feel this game might come down to an error in these conditions or a mistimed tackle in the box

30 Geny’s influence on the right hand side is starting to grow in this game. It’s like someone is beating a drum to control his rhythm and it’s gradually getting faster and faster with every minute that passes. I’d hate to defend him in the dry let alone when you can’t keep your footing in the wet

41 GOAL Vitória 0 Sporting CP 1 for now. Morita with an unorthodox kick found Inácio who smashes it home from close range at the far post. Suspicion of a foul by Morita in the buildup. I’d be surprised if this stands. Mind you from the angle behind the goal it didn’t look as bad as from the right. Goal given.

44 As smoke engulfs the end Vitória attack it’s safe to say the flares are from the Sportinguista’s in attendance. It looks like the game is being played in thick fog

Plus 3

+1 Offside flag is raised against Gonçalves as he raced through one on one with the keeper and chipped the ball into the net. Well taken but the right decision. Not sure you’d have spotted it at the other end as easily though with the smoke still not dispersing

+2 Penalty to Vitória. Adán came racing out and the forward made the most of any contact made. Mangas has made a meal of that one but it was stupid from Adán in these conditions.

+5 Adán is still protesting to the referee. Now there’s a player down on the edge of the box. Gamesmanship from Sporting making the penalty taker wait.

+6 GOAL Silva is still stood with the ball. Finally after a four minute wait he slots it home past the left of Adán who looked like he got a hand on it. That was a farcical few minutes. Vitória SC 1 Sporting CP 1

Half time

Vitória SC 1 Sporting CP 1

Well what can you say about that half but you can bet your bollocks to a barn dance the players are glad to get off and into the dry. Watching the replay of the penalty award from behind the goal you’ve got to think Adán has a point. Contact was minimal but he should have stayed on his feet and forced the player wide. You can see why the referee gave the penalty from the angle he was and maybe if that end of the pitch wasn’t filled with smoke caused by flares thrown on by our own fans, replays from other angles might have been more conclusive. A draw at half time in the wet is fair on both teams. I said it might come down to an error or a mistimed challenge leading to a penalty. Appears I got a buy one get one free there. I should keep my mouth shut or should that be fingers stationery.

Safe to suggest Nuno Santos is coming on as a second half substitute as he strips off his training top. Amorim has done his usual lightning speed half time talk and is presumably en route to deliver instructions to Nuno Santos. His head is dipped down revealing the extent of his hair loss. Looks like it’s gotten far worse. I hope it’s not alopecia and stress related. Sporting were first out last week stood waiting for Gil Vicente. They don’t seem in a hurry to move out the tunnel this week. Funny that.

Second half

Esgaio makes way for Nuno Santos meaning Reis to presumably come into the back three. I don’t think Esgaio had a bad first half but given he’s on a yellow, one badly timed tackle in this half would mean a red card so it’s probably not the worst decision.

48 Mangas picks up the ball in the centre of the box from a poor attempted clearance and blasts it over. Massive let off for Sporting there. He knows he should have done better by his reaction

51 Diomande has gone wide right, Reis wide left and Inácio now sitting in the centre. Vitória are targeting Reis as the weak link. Neto must on the one hand be thinking I should be out there playing and on the other thinking it’s nice and dry under cover – you keep going gents

57 Gyökeres is certainly seeing a lot more of the ball second half. I’m not sure if that’s because he’s dropped deeper or the opposition’s trying to attack more second half against us leaving more space. They’re certainly now defending with Sporting type levels of a high line maybe 12 to 15 yards off the halfway line

59 Geny flashes a ball from wide right and finds Gyökeres back post who knocks it wide. I’m not sure he believed that the cross in was going to beat the last defender and therefore didn’t get his body in the right shape to put away that half chance 

60 Nuno Santos flashes a ball into the centre at Gyökeres. Defender just nicked it off his toe for a corner.

61 Double substitution; Hjulmand off for Paulinho and Trincão is on for Edwards. I had it in my mind that Trincão is a man for playing in the rain like Senna was driving on wets but I might have made that up totally

63 Trying to find space in the Vitória box is like trying to park a car in central London. Paulinho tries to make his way through six defenders but to no avail.

65 Trincão overhits a cross out for a goal kick. Clearly I made his ability in the rain up on that initial showing.

70 Nuno Santos cuts the ball back to Trincão whose shot is saved low. That was a proper chance.

72 GOAL Fucking hell. Vitória lead with the cruellest of deflections. Adán had stopped a shot from point blank range. The shot comes back in and Morita gets the last touch to turn it past Adán. Andre Silva has been credited with it presumably as it was on target initially but in old money that’s a Morita own goal. Sporting had just one player back against two attackers on the break. That was a goal owing to poor defending in the first instance Vitória SC 2 Sporting CP 1

76 GOAL Well we weren’t behind for long as Nuno Santos with time and space to write his life Memoires smashed it home to make it Vitória SC 2 Sporting CP 2. That was down to Gonçalves quick thinking. There were five defenders either in front of him or closing down the space on the right of the box, he quickly played it out to the acre of space they had vacated and Bob’s your uncle, Fanny’s your aunt. Quite ironic given how they’d shut Paulino out minutes before. Like watching five year olds play chasing the ball in a pack

79 GOAL Oh you are fucking kidding me. A quick one two sees Silva find space and get a shot away from the narrowest of angles past the right leg of Adán through the narrowest of gaps to make it Vitória SC 3 Sporting CP 2. That’s quite the ten minutes of football. Not sure when I wrote I’d take a 1-0 Sporting win but right now I’d certainly take a 3-3. He left Inácio for dead with pace watching that replay. Good finish but he shouldn’t be scoring from there

87 The defence has Adán to thank again as Inácio again fails to pick up his player. He is fucking dog shite in the centre of a three. Butzke was clean through but Adán saved well. Should have been 4

88 Ze Ferreira shown the yellow. Not sure what for mind. One of the coaching staff also shown a yellow.

Six minutes shown

Sporting need a footballing miracle here. It’s more likely to be 4-2 that it is 3-3 right now

+2 It’s all kicking off on the touchline as players swarm like flies around shit. Not sure what sparked all that. Someone’s been shown the red card. Now there’s a yellow. This has gone on for a good couple of minutes and these are now the backroom staff and substitutes still in their training kit in the centre of the melee. Meanwhile the actual players from both sides are all back waiting on the pitch for the referee to finish sorting out the melee

+6 Corner to Sporting. No idea how long is actually left after all the commotion on the touchline. Ball is cleared.

Final whistle goes just after the 9th minute of additional time.

Full time

Vitória SC 3 Sporting CP 2

The Final Word

An hour after the final whistle and I’m still trying to draw any real conclusions from that defeat. So let the deconstruction process begin. I thought Diomande looked comfortable in the opening 45 and even with Esgaio playing out of position I was never unduly worried. Inácio however is a liability in the centre of a back three. He’s not good enough as I’ve written before. Someone during the week was questioning Gvardiol’s ability since he signed for Manchester City and I’m thinking ‘he played in a Leipzig side that City knocked seven goals past. Would that have not given some indication?’ He played in the 1-0 loss to Villa in the same left hand position of the three Inácio fills and if Gvardiol is being found out already I’m convinced Inácio will be found out in record time. Certainly a lot sooner than it’s taken so called experts to figure out the former was overpriced and over hyped. His footballing brain is about two seconds behind play and put under any real pressure he comes off second best. I don’t get what games scouts are watch’ng Vs the ones I’m watching him in.

I’m struggling to pick my man of the match perhaps for only the second time this season. Maybe third or fourth but two of those would be where I thought two players had little to separate them. That’s not to say there weren’t good performances. There were positives in microdoses. To be fair to the players it was appalling fucking weather so it’s hard to be ultra critical. It was a coin toss of a game. Geny looked great in flashes, Gyökeres too, Diomande for the opening 45 as mentioned. Gonçalves put in his best performance of the season or close to it, though that’s not hard given how poor he’s been in every game this season bar two. I thought he played well and contributed throughout. Morita however just didn’t look at the races again despite his assist for the opener. I’m not sure a month away on international duty is what he needs right now. Coates and St Juste absence was clear to see second half. You can’t play Esgaio or Reis in a back three. I’m not Neto’s biggest fan but why is he still there if you’re not going to play him in a game like this? Sometimes you need experience and a bit of nous. He shouldn’t have switched Diomande out right given he looked so commanding in the centre.

Well there’s an irony. Looking at the stats Fotmob gave Inácio the highest rating of any player on the pitch. On that I can only conclude that their metric is if you complete the most passes in a game that makes you the best player which is frankly bullshit. Fuck it as much as I could give it to Gonçalves I’m going to give it to Diomande because of his first half performance and I don’t remember him really sound anything wrong second half.

I’ll reiterate this game was a coin toss. I’m not convinced by the penalty before half time but if there was contact you can see why it was given. It’s never nice to lose but play that game again ten times in the same conditions I doubt you’d get the same scoreline in any of the games.