Sporting CP 3 SC Farense 2

Sporting CP v SC Farense

March 3rd, 2024
Estádio José Alvalade
Matchday 23

The Warm Up

Let’s start with the positives to just steady the nerves if as much for me as anyone reading of a Sporting disposition. Or maybe a nervous Sporting disposition. Whatever.

In five competitive games head to head Sporting have a 100% win record and the previous game away finished in a 3-2 win. Let us not however kid ourselves that was an easy win. Farense were reduced to 10 men in the 18th minute so had to defend for 80% of the game with reduced numbers and yet they managed to score twice and the winner only came in the 90th minute. Sporting did also beat them 4-2 in the group stages of the Taça da Liga. Post Dérbi win on Thursday night Sporting have now scored an incredible 103 goals in all competitions and of course will go into the second leg of the Taça with a narrow 1 goal lead. They’ll also know three points in this game will see them go top if only for an hour or two with the neighbours travelling to Porto in the late kick off. The green and white half of Lisboa will be blue and white for 90 minutes hoping that Sergio Conceição’s men can throw the cat amongst the pigeons. We saw Thursday night that they’re not infallible but they did beat Porto narrowly in the reverse fixture earlier this season. The bookmakers make Porto narrow favourites to win at 7/5.

Regular readers will know of my suffering with anxiety through diagnosed OCD so the news coming out of the club of Adán’s thigh injury which will potentially see his season over left me like a Messerschmitt shot out the sky falling in a tailspin. My immediate thought for Israel potentially being number one for the run in was – that’s us fucked then, and you thought the Palestinians have problems with Israel. There’s the joke that would get me cancelled if anyone actually cared a jot about–what ’ write. Thankfully no one does. I’ve nailed my colours to the mast about his abilities and the fact I rate Luis Maximiano more than I do Franco Israel doesn’t bode well because I didn’t rate Max as a goalkeeper on any level. The fact he’s now at Almeria who are bottom of La Liga and yet to win a single league game in 27 speaks volumes if I’m saying that for me he’s better than Franco. Seasons are so frequently defined as much by injuries and suspensions as they are by anything else that happens on the pitch. Injuries to first choice keepers – those will leave you proper fucked. So what’s left to say? 11 wins out of 11 at home. Did I mention the 103 goals scored? … We won the Dérbi Thursday night – Get in!

Off the field rumours continue abound in respects of potential summer departures, my favourite being Hjulmand being in the sights of Tottenham Hotspur having grown up a fan of their North London rivals Arsenal, so much so he has a tattoo of their club crest. Please make that transfer happen just for the fits and shits. Arsenal themselves are now being heavily linked with a move for Gyökeres. Amorim continues to be linked with Liverpool if they fail in a bid to take Alonso from Leverkusen. In the winter window Sporting were insistent on the full release clause being met for the likes of Gyökeres and Inácio so it remains to be seen if their stance remains the same this summer. I’ve been wondering the last few days if the neighbours have killed the goose that laid the golden egg when it comes to transfers out of Portugal in the same way that maybe Brighton have done in the Premier League. It’s so easy to assume that taking one player in form will mean their success is replicated in new colours. Enzo Fernandez €121m, Darwin Nunez €81m, João Felix €127m, Gonçalo €65m plus €15m in add-ons – can any of those names be claimed to have been a success since their transfer, especially for the size of outlay involved? If I was a director of football being quoted eye watering sums I’d be looking elsewhere. Moises Caicedo €116m and Marc Cucarella €65.3m being the two prime examples from Brighton. Portuguese clubs need to sell to survive, that’s a tale as old as football itself but recent seasons have seen the fees at bubble level and it stands to reason there will always be a pin aimed directly at it. Porto’s current liabilities lay north of €200m and the club once most feted in all of Europe for their ability to sell talent are now technically insolvent. Alan Varela is being linked with a summer move to the Premier League but whether that’s for his reported release clause of €60m would remain to be seen. I think Premier League clubs are now realising they’re going to have to be sharper in the markets and this can only be detrimental long term for the future financial position of Portuguese clubs despite investment being made from foreign investors. Sanctions against Everton and possibly Nottingham Forest as well as new financial regulations coming in, in respects of wages to turnover ratios may mean that Sporting sell as high as they can this summer with a greater number of players that you’d normally expect to depart the club. As I frequently write in these blog posts I guess only time will tell as to what happens.

The money markets

Sporting 1/8 = 88.88% probability chance of win
Farense 20/1 = 4.76% probability chance of win 

Team News

As we have already established a change in goal with Franco Israel the starting goalkeeper for the considerable future. St Juste starts on the right of the three with Diomande and Reis completing the trio. Maybe no surprise Coates sits out with three games in seven days. Bragança, Nuno Santos and Esgaio come in with Hjulmand retaining his place. As you were up front and apparently according to Fotmob there’s no substitutes. Who knew.

First Half

It may be a cliché but a week really is a long time in football. Last Sunday saw Sporting drop two points in the title race in their 3-3 away draw to Rio Ave on a rain soaked evening. Thursday night brought a 2-1 Dérbi win in the Taça to bring a ray of sunshine. Dark clouds rolling back over with the news Adán may miss the rest of the season meaning any chance of success now rests in the hands of the inexperienced Franco Israel. For now the focus is solely on collecting another 3 points and maintaining the 100% home league record. Bragança named captain, this has all the feel of a pre season game.

So then the first of the final dozen games is set to kick off, spread evenly matched with six at home, six away. How’s your heart rate doing? I won’t ask you about your bums, well not until we’re on first name terms at the very least.

Farense have recorded just two wins since the start of November and are without Bruno Duarte the club’s top scorer with 9 goals so far and midfield mainstay Mattheus who’s suspended having played all 23 games previous to this and having scored in the 4-2 defeat in the Taça in November when the two sides last met.

1 Sporting attacking right to left this first half start with a corner won with just 60 seconds on the clock – easily headed clear.

3 Second corner to Sporting. All the play is coming down the left hand channel through Santos. Cleared for another corner

4 Third corner ends up all the way back with Israel. I thought I’d learned not to bother noting corners in reports because of Sporting being so ineffectual from them – clearly not. Is that more their fault on the pitch or mine off of it? Hmmm

8 Gonçalves turns and shoots from 20 yards deflected for a you know what. I won’t bother writing what happens from it.

10 GOAL Sporting CP 1 Farense 0. Having bemoaned Bragança with his lack of shooting prowess in front of goal all season he says eat your words knob head and smashes the ball into the top right hand corner from 12 yards leaving the keeper stood helplessly watching on as the ball flew past and me going nom, nom, nom.

16 Edwards causing all sorts of havoc as he twists and turns into the box. His low cross into the six yard box is cut out for another you know what

22 First yellow shown to Isidoro for cynical foul on Bragança

23 First corner actually leading to something as St Juste heads onto the far right post and straight into the arms of the keeper

24 How did that stay out? Oliveira gets it all wrong as the ball came in from the left and his attempted clearance cannons off his own bar and out to safety from 3 or 4 yards. I bet his bum hole just twitched rather considerably

25 St Juste heads just wide from another corner. Finally they’ve figured out the ball needs to go to another Sporting player. Well done chaps. *Slow claps. What is this round 23 of the season?

27 First shot to the visitors from Belloumi straight at Israel from long range easily dealt with. That was as good as his haircut. That jibe doesn’t really work without pictorial evidence does it. It’s fucking awful. Better? Well better than his Barnet.

28 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Farense 0. Gonçalves cut the ball back from the goal line out left to find Gyökeres who strikes it with the outside of his boot first time to deftly put it into the bottom right hand corner. Just a reminder that Sporting are back to the top of the table for now.

31 Falcão fires a long range effort past Israel’s left post. Cut to a shot in the crowd of Adán with child perched on his knee. The kids in safer hands than our defence with Israel

31 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Farense 1 with possibly one of the goals of the season as Belloumi rifles it into the top left hand corner from 20 yards. I’ll have to see it again but my first instinct was Israel should have done better. Sporting I fear are just going to need to rely on out scoring the opposition every game because I don’t think the Uruguayan is good enough to keep a clean sheet. Farense’s goal of the season competition is basically going to come down to goals scored against Sporting let’s be honest. The above comment written seconds earlier about Adán and Israel was proven in record time

34 Edwards leaves his marker looking like me on ice skates with his first touch inside the box, namely flat on his arse, but can only fire his shot at the keeper

35 Gonçalves shanks his shot from the edge of the six yard box out for a goal kick

39 Muscat trips Gyökeres wide out left and shown a yellow. Good position for a freekick – Fuck me that was worst than most of their corners and that’s saying something. Fannying about tapping it to each other, cross finally comes in and easily cleared.

44 Gonçalves with an awful shot high and wide from 18 yards sails into the stands

Plus two indicated

+1 Israel bravely rushes out to collect a ball into the box and looks like he’s been knocked out cold. Physios are quickly out to him. After a couple of minutes he’s finally sat up. I wonder if it was actually Reis who caught him with a boot to the face as he fell. Zé Luís was shown a yellow card for his initial challenge on the keeper

+3 Game restarts. Whether Israel can continue for the remainder of the game remains to be seen. Pinto was changing on the bench and will presumably be sent out to warm up at half time as a precaution.

Half time

Sporting 2 Farense 1

Well my bum hole is twitching like Oliveira’s when he smashed his clearance back onto his own bar. What the full time result in this game will be anyone’s guess. I’m not sure Israel will even come out for the start of the second half. For now the main thing is we lead. Santos’ delivery from the left has once more been sadly lacking in quality. The quality of set pieces has been woeful. Eight corners we had of which I think two found their intended target. What do they practice in training? Clearly not set pieces. Someone’s switched all the lights off and Queens We Will Rock you is being pumped out at a ridiculously high volume. Is that what passes for entertainment nowadays? Christ I’m a miserable old bastard.

Second half

Israel has returned. Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains to be seen. Sporting get the second half underway. Both sides as you were

47 Farense hit the bar with Israel beaten all ends up by Zé Luís. That answers my question about Israel coming out for the second half in record time.

47 Yellow shown to St Juste for a challenge a yard outside the 18 yard box

49 Israel gets a hand to a Baldé freekick which was heading into the bottom right hand corner and then the follow up shot is blocked and out for a corner. This isn’t how Sporting would have hoped to start the second half.

49 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Farense 2. Corner comes in and simple header into the far corner by Zé Luís. Israel just flapped at it. Fucking useless. That’s their first corner as well compared to what? Eight was it from Sporting first half? In the interest of fairness to Israel I’m going to go smash my head against the nearest wall and see if I can knock myself out cold

52 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Farense 2. I might have just thrown my arm out celebrating. Esgaio laid it on a plate for Gonçalves to tap into an empty net from a yard out. Well done Ricardo my boy!

53 Trincão replaces Gonçalves a minute after he scores. Reis is replaced by Quaresma and Morita comes on for Hjulmand. Presumably these are all with the Europa League in mind and pre-planned.

55 Santos tries a low rabona which is blocked from 16 yards. Fucking moron what was the fucking point in that you utter selfish fucking prick. Safe to say I need a lie down and Sporting need a 4th goal. Let’s not forget the Taça game in November finished 4-2 and Israel started for that game. Déjà vu? I’d take it. Could also have déjà vu with last week’s 3-3. Déjà don’t please.

59 Edwards chopped down a yard outside right of the area. Poor delivery from a good position again from the free kick 

62 Bragança tries a low effort from 20 yards. Indicated as a corner but I’m not entirely convinced that took a deflection and didn’t just go out wide

66 Trincão with a lovely mazy run, quick one two with Gyökeres sees him in the box but he’s crowded out by three defenders. Side note – Farense have managed to score 3 or more in an away game 3 times out of 11 this season so the mathematics of probability based on previous examples is on our side and I’m clutching at those straws.

68 Skipper’s on for St Juste, Bragança runs and hands Coates the armband. You suspect that wasn’t in the plan with Atalanta still to come in midweek. They went down 2-1 at home to Bologna by the way in the teatime kick off in Serie A. Captains on to steady the ship. It’ll be OK, what could possibly go wrong? That’s what they said about the Titanic though to be fair

71 This is starting to feel like the most ridiculously long half of football as if I’ve accidentally knocked it on a 0.5 speed setting.

72 Esgaio chases down a long ball and pulls it back to Trincão whose shot is saved. Referee however blows for the ball having gone out of play. I’m not going to lie Esgaio has been my man of the match so far. I’ve not written that since the first 45 minutes of a preseason friendly. No I lie I think I’d have given him man of the match before were it not for him being replaced at half time.

75 Gyökeres lambasts the official on the right wing. He looks about as calm as I feel right now which is to say not very much

76 Edwards beats his marker and then beats himself – not like that – and puts the ball out of play. That’s his game finished as he’s yanked off for Paulinho. That’s yanked with a y

77 Blocked shot from Paulinho. All too fucking lackadaisical there as Sporting had the numbers. Bragança stole the ball in a dangerous space, laid the pass into Paulinho in the box who in fairness to him at least had literally only come on 20 seconds before.

83 Triple substitution from the visitors meaning more additional time to be added on. My heart’s currently going 80 bpm and I’m huffing and puffing more with every minute that goes past. I’m not enjoying this game.

86 Somehow Gyökeres emerged from a crowd of defenders with the ball but his cross aimed at Bragança was cleared. There’s a man thinking we need a 4th. That was a perfect display of strength, skill, guile and the will to win all wrapped into one.

89 Seriously this game feels like it’s been going 3 hours now.

Five minutes shown

Fuckkkkkkkk. I always said I’ll die of heart failure watching football. Amazing to think women make less fuss giving birth than I am right now

+2 Cross in from the right scooped into the midriff of Israel. Breathe…

+3 The collective whistles from Sportinguista’s is almost deafening as they urge full time to hurry the fuck up via the medium of sharp and shrill birdsong

+4 Hopeful shot from 30 yards sails into the stand behind Israel and gets the largest cheer of the night. Pastor it was with the effort – Pastor the bar… get it? No? Oh bollocks to you then.

+5 The last time I heard whistles like this was when Sporting played in Turkey and the locals tried to unsettle the Sporting players. Finally here’s the one that matters…

Full time

Sporting CP 3 Farense 2

The Final Word

I’m not sure I’ll survive another 11 of those types of games. Three points won though and back to the top of the table for now. Adán seemed to be moving quite well as he got up from his seat at half time. If he’s not back before the end of the season then on the evidence of tonight we’ll be doing it the hard way if we’re to win any silverware. My opinion of Israel hasn’t changed one bit after that performance. He’s not fucking good enough and Sporting are now suffering the consequences of having a poor backup keeper to Adán. It’s genuinely no surprise they’re entering the market this summer for another keeper but by that point we could be left with nothing for what up until this point has been an incredible season.

My man of the match – Ricardo Esgaio and no the pressure hasn’t got to me and I’ve not gone totally mad. Well maybe but I stand by it. Got an assist, gave 110% out on the right, chased down lost causes and I can’t remember him doing anything wrong – no misplaced passes. Reis again had a good game out on the left whereas Santos is just a shadow of the player he was last season. Gyökeres when he was involved was unplayable. I’d not like to defend him especially when he's pumped up. Edwards had flashes of brilliance but you can see why he says he’d be happy to play another 100 games for the club. As good as he is there’s a little something missing from his game. Let’s call it consistency and notions of him being a success in the Premier League are fanciful I think. He’s found his level in Portugal. Trincão looked good when he came on and showed no signs of the injury that kept him out of the Dérbi which has to be a positive ahead of Atalanta on Wednesday.

Reminder that all eyes now switch to the Estádio de Dragão for the 20.30 kick off. Vamos Porto!