Sporting CP 3 Rio Ave 1

Sporting CP v Rio Ave
August 9th, 2024
Estádio José Alvalade 
Matchday 1 

The warm up

Friday night sees the return of Portuguese top flight football with Sporting taking on Rio Ave at the Alvalade in the season's curtain raiser. A win will see the reigning champions start the season how they ended last in first position. Unlike twelve months ago the expectation levels for many fans will have risen after last season's exploits. For me this is where age and experience tempers my expectation levels. I am somewhat of a realist and I'm now of an age where I've seen it all before. My most often used phrase in these blogs is I'm sure 'it's the hope that kills you.' Maybe that or 'even a broken clock is right twice a day.' The bookmakers have the neighbours priced as favourites to lift the title and I'm OK with that. I've spent all summer saying in print that Gyökeres won't leave but the transfer window isn't shut and I'm often wrong about a lot of things. I've also gone on record as saying we are frankly fucked if we lose the Swede either through injury or a transfer. Even lacking match fitness in the Supertaça last weekend he looked unplayable at times during a first half in which we raced into a 3-0 lead. A fully fit Gyökeres makes it 4-1 early on in the second half and at that point there's no way back for Porto, but shit happens. I've clearly grown as a person in the past 12 months because I shrugged my shoulders and didn't sulk about it. The positive is how we got to be 3-0 up in the first place. If we can get all our howlers out the way in a game that really is nothing more than the Portuguese Charity Shield then I'll take it. I could see it coming, in my minute by minute I wrote that Amorim should be readying Diomande to come on to bring some calmness and stability to the defence and 3 minutes after I wrote that it was 3-3. I don't ever edit my posts after time to make myself sound better. I call it how I see it and equally at 3-0 I exclaimed that Porto were merely now playing for respectability. Well turns out they were actually playing to win. Who knew? Clearly not me or the XI on the outfield for the lions. 

As the first game fast approaches we cannot pretend that Coates leaving isn't a massive blow. If you'd told me after the first three or four seasons with the club that I'd be truly gutted when he left I'd have laughed at you. Then when I'd stopped I'd probably have laughed some more. Maybe his performances since the first title have helped me grow; that reminder that you cannot judge a book by its cover, a good wine takes time to mature. We've got a lot of young wine now and maybe some of it will be turn out to be corked and not leave the best taste in the mouth so for now we'll raise a glass to last season's title winners. (Grape juice for me by the way as I reach ten years sober on August 11th.) There's no point getting on the backs of players after a defeat like last week. They'll be hurting and fortunately they know they've got the chance to put it right come Friday night. I didn't do my normal post game deep dive after the Porto defeat because having had extra time it was already turning into War and Peace with the minute by minute. So thinking back now my biggest takeaway from the game was of Hjulmand and his new role as team captain. It was written all over his face how much it meant to him. The anguish at 3-3, the remonstrating with the referee over every decision that didn't go Sporting's way. How he stood at the corner of the bench having been taken off instead of choosing to slump on the bench looking broken by the experience. There's a man who's tasted success and decided he wants more. Defeat is akin to driving over his newborn puppy. Football, like life, is how you frame events that happen; experiences to learn from rather than mistakes made. I'm just thankful that Sporting finished a Clássico with eleven men on the field. Porto are masters at what the media darlings call the dark arts. I personally just label it as pathetic. This constant falling over and clutching of faces and play acting drives me fucking crazy. The fact Gyökeres had his nose bust open and had continued his run before it had even registered with him spoke volumes about the two opposing sets of players. I'd ask how Galeno can look at himself in the mirror at night but he's fucking full of himself and probably does little else with his spare time than gaze lovingly back at himself. Prick. OK so maybe I still have some work to do on that growth thing. 

We have the squad to compete again but to use a musical analogy, it's the follow up album to the hit first album that's the trickiest, or words to that effect. I don't suppose artists record albums now anyways or maybe they do. Who knows. Winning needs to become a habit. Can we win every home game again this season? If we could then we'll be up there and challenging again but you can't really expect to repeat that particular feat from last season. The thing is to at least come away with 1 point and try to go undefeated as a minimum. For all fans appreciate what you have whilst you have it. If we keep Gyökeres for another season and he repeats last season's exploits then with the best will in the world we're not going to keep him next summer. You imagine the Amorim era is drawing to its close too. Nothing lasts forever, especially not in football. 

I never know how much fans in Portugal see of the transfer speculation in England surrounding our players. After eight months or more of rumours of Gyökeres to Arsenal I was highly fucking tickled by one outlet reporting that Arsenal were now looking at some forward I'd never heard of for £19m instead of our own Gyökeres. I find the Portuguese mainstream media to be pretty consistent in their reporting, repeating the club line that any club who wants him will have to pay his termination clause in full of €100m and yet you still get daily reports here that Sporting would be willing to sell him for a cut price fee? Why? Why the fuck would you sell him for less than his termination clause when you're looking to win the league back to back? We're not fucking Porto without a pot to piss in. We've got more money coming in from the Champions League, movement on the wage bill after the exits of Coates, Neto, Adam and Paulinho. I get that sites need to generate clicks and get eyes on but if you continually print shit at some point people simply stop clicking. I see the metrics on this site every week to know that. Thankfully I do it just to fill time and not to make a living. Having previously built a football website from scratch that grew to 750,000 views a month which nearly broke me mentally I'm quite happy today going well under the radar. I'm genuinely thrilled when another country is added to my list of places where my blog has been read; 94 and counting going into this weekend. I'd like to say I was big in South Korea and Kazakhstan but I'd be lying but I have been read by people in both and that blows my mind, so thank you to anyone who takes the time to read these I'm always grateful. 

Anyway enough of the love in and back to the forthcoming game Friday night. The last game between the two sides finished 3-3 away from home with Rio Ave off the top of my head getting two penalties in the game. (Maybe I should fact check that.) Oh yes, this was the game where they played seven minutes worth of pigeon TV at the start and I was losing my shit and when they finally broadcast the game we were already 1-0 down - It's all coming back to me now. Awful penalty decision given against Nuno Santos on the stroke of half time to make it 2-2 in piss poor weather conditions. Coates the man who made it 3-3 and my final words post game were - I fucking hate football. That's proper pissed on my chips, stolen the jam out of my doughnut, ripped my heart out and stamped all over it. See now you're impressed with how I reacted to losing to Porto 4-3 aren't you. OMG perhaps he really has grown as a person, you're telling yourself. The first game finished a comfortable 2-0 and at half time I'm on the record as saying 'that's as one sided a first half as you'll see in Europe all season long.' So fingers crossed we get that game again on Friday night. Last season's opener against Vizela was as crazy as they come now I think about it. Gyökeres scored a brace in the space of two minutes and you're already left thinking - my god what a player. Then like last week with total dominance we blink and it's 2-2 and you're left wondering what the fuck? Thankfully all the time wasting from the opposition gave Paulinho the opportunity to score in the 99th minute. Oddly that might have been the moment that gave the players belief that they could overcome anything thrown at them that season. They certainly proved they could. I'd be happier with a 2-0 opener this Friday though I have to admit. I always said I'd die watching football. I don't need to be right all the time. 

Lot of new faces at Rio Ave this summer, many of which are from Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos who are also owned by Evangelos Marinakis. The most recognised name to have come in is that of forward Clayton who joins on loan from Brazilian side Vasco de Gama who up until March had been plying his trade with Casa Pia. Eleven players in total have come in and there have been a further thirteen departures over the summer months with eight of those players being released as free agents including the ex-Sporting midfield mainstay Adrien Silva. It will be interesting to see the level of ambition for Marinakis with the club given he's taken Forest into the Premier League and Olympiacos won the Europa Conference League last season. I don't think fans would really expect them to try and topple the balance of the big three in Portugal anytime soon but you have to imagine playing in some sort of European competition in the next few seasons could well be a goal for the club. Whether they can surpass the ambitions of a Braga or a Vitória remains to be seen. 

There are a couple of little asterisks against Kovačević in goal but to be fair I always said about Adán that he only got beaten by a screamer or a howler and nothing in between. He does seem to be quite adept with his reflexes and shot stopping and reacts faster than young Franco Israel. Same with Debast but he's still wet behind the ears, doesn't speak the language and is learning his way with new teammates in a new country and is no doubt a little too eager to impress. Weren't we all at the same age. 

In the markets 

Sporting 1.14

Draw 7.00

Rio Ave 17.00

Team News 

Starting XI 

Kovačević, Quaresma, Diomande, Inácio, Quenda, Hjulmand, Morita, Geny, Trincão, Gyökeres and Gonçalves

Substitutes

Israel, Reis, Debast, Fresneda, Bragança, Fernandes, Esgaio, Edwards and Ribeiro 

Full league debuts for new signing Kovačević and the youngster Geovany Quenda following his promotion to the first team. Diomande gets the nod in the centre of the back three with Debast maybe unsurprisingly after last week's defeat the man to make way. With Nuno Santos still injured Geny deputises on the left once more. At points last week as Sporting chased the game we saw him and Quenda being given the ball out wide on both flanks in an attacking sense. Whilst we're unlikely to see a similar approach game to game it was certainly exciting to watch. Quenda's game time will mostly be dictated by when Santos returns on the left with the natural assumption being that Geny will then revert wide right. 

Hopefully we'll see first half Sporting from last week and not second half Sporting. The visitors will look at recent opening games for Sporting, conceding 2 against Vizela and 3 to Braga and be buoyed by the prospect of potentially bringing Sporting's unbeaten home league record to an end. I'm very level headed about the season right now but if Gyökeres starts with another brace I might get a little giddy. You have been warned. 

First Half

The players make their way out onto the pitch with the league trophy in pride of place just in case anyone has forgotten we are Champions of Portugal. Hjulmand steps for his first coin toss as Captain of a league game as it's all change at the Alvalade. 

Rio Ave get us underway. Sporting will be attacking right to left in front of a reported full crowd though there are gaps in the stands for now. 

1 Quenda released on the right shows his marker a clean pair of heels but over hits his cross and it goes harmlessly wide. 

2 There's definitely a buzz from all four corners of the ground every time Sporting push forward. Corner ball. 

3. Geny finds Diomande but his header goes wide of the right hand post. It looks like Rio Ave are in for a long night 

5 GOAL Gyökeres sprints free of his marker on the right and squares it to Gonçalves to sweep home from eight yards to make it Sporting CP 1 Rio Ave 0. Sporting back on top of the league table once more. 

9 Impressive opening for the League champions. Geny looks like he's played wide left all his career and has performed impeccably in his defence duties on that side. What a twelve months he's had since he came into the first team last pre season. 

10 Quick nod to tonight's referee who has so far let the game flow and not pulled up anyone for challenges. Always good to see good officiating and regular readers will know I try make a point of it given the level of constant criticism they're subjected to.

16 Last ditch tackle from the Rio Ave defender averts the danger as Gyökeres breaks forward once more. He's majestic when he picks the ball up and runs with it.  

17 Gyökeres shot blocked and out for a corner

17 Off the line. That's a great stop from the keeper Jhonatan. Morita swung his left leg at it from 5 yards out on the far left hand corner of the six years box 

20 Gyökeres off to the races down the left squared it to Gonçalves whose shot was blocked. Same for Trincão and finally a free kick awarded for a foul by Gonçalves

23 First shot of the game for the visitors goes harmlessly over from 25 yards or more 

25 GOAL All credit to Rio Ave as they now defend in rigid blocks…I won't finish that sentence as the keeper has a rush of blood to the head and passes the ball straight to Gonçalves who puts it back onto the top right hand corner to make it Sporting CP 2 Rio Ave 0. He'll be having nightmares about that for weeks to come. No idea what Jhonatan was doing there because he wasn't under any pressure. He didn't even appear to miss hit the ball, he literally passed it as if he thought Gonçalves was his defender. I said last season in the 2-0 win the first half was as one sided a game as you'll see all season. I'm going to double down on that statement. 

30 Geny shanks his shot wide of the right hand post from 12 yards

32 Diomande penalised for a foul on Clayton and just a talking to from the referee. So refreshing to see. 

33 Mistake from Diomande at the back, didn't panic, won the ball with a tackle, cleared the second ball away with a header. There's that calmness I wanted on the hour last week

34 Yellow shown to 33 Aderllan as he barges Gyökeres off the ball. Free kick to Sporting 30 yards out. Gonçalves tries a ball into the box but doesn't come off and Rio Ave easily clear their lines. 

36 Little give and go in the box from Gonçalves to Geny who flicked it on with a deft touch but the keeper was wise to it this time. 

42 Hjulmand plays Gyökeres in on the left and even with three defenders around him manages to get a shot away from a tight angle which was deflected for a corner. 

Additional time +1

Half time 

Sporting CP 2 Rio Ave 0

I think I can say with an incredible degree of certainty that Kovačević has been the worst player for Sporting simply on the basis he can't have touched the ball more than ten times in the entirety of that first half and hasn't had a save to make. Whilst we might have shot ourselves in the foot against Porto, this Rio Ave side with their starting XI at least don't have anyone who looks capable of leading any sort of comeback in the second half of this game. Geny has been impressive out on the left and Nuno Santos may be starting to sweat a bit as he watches on from the stands. Diomande has marshalled the defence to perfection, Gyökeres looks every euro the €100m man - if you want him then in the words of Jerry Maguire Esquire - Show me the money. Special mention to Gonçalves who couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo from two yards at the start of last season and he's back looking at his very best with a brace. It's like they've never been away. I started by saying the players will be desperate to put last week to bed and they have. Every week won't be this easy but it's important we start well, start fast and take the chances that come out way and we've done exactly that. 

Second Half

Cup of tea and an arm round the shoulder for Jhonatan at half time you imagine after his first half howler. Rio Ave have made one change as Sporting get the second half underway. Morias off for Tomé

45 Seconds on the clock and Sporting have hit the bar from Gyökeres. Any thoughts Rio Ave might have had of the second half being easier are quickly dispelled. That came from a run in by the Swede from the right, his attempted cross deflected off the defender, over the keeper's head and onto the bar.

46 Snap shot from Rio Ave twenty yards out. Hjulmand in the perfect position and the ball cannons off the Dane and out for a throw.

47 Clayton booked for a late challenge on Diomande.

50 Rio Ave just finding some space in the midfield for the first time tonight as Sporting's tempo has dropped. We saw how dangerous they were on the break last season time and time again when allowing teams to carry the ball forward and leave that space for the likes of Gyökeres to run into

51 Gonçalves booked for a clumsy late challenge

52 Gyökeres runs in between two defenders before managing to get a shot away which is blocked. He goes down holding his knee again. I'm going to have Gyökeres knee anxiety all season long

53 Clever lay off from Hjulmand on the edge of the area finds Quaresma whose shot from 20 yards just goes a couple of yards over the right hand of the bar. Gyökeres actually clutched the back of his thigh as he went down my apologies. I may have been gripped by panic in real time. It's the same panic I get every time St Juste goes down and you think oh no how long will he be out for this time.

57 Trincão penalised for a foul in midfield. We've not seen much for him. Maybe Edwards gets a longer run out tonight and a chance to impress the coach from the substitutes bench?

60 Quenda just starting to have a bit more effect out wide right as the game goes on. He's not had a bad game, it's just that Gyökeres has that tendency to collect the ball, turn and drive at the defence from all areas of the pitch and he's very much the focal point of the attack

60 Gonçalves chasing that match ball hits one over the bar from a poor position wide left and it sails out harmlessly. He was just falling as his momentum carried him forward in fairness to him.

61 GOAL I said I'd take a 2-0 but with the scoreline 2-0 I'd hope we add another at least…well fuck me Sporting CP 3 Rio Ave 0. Gyökeres miss kicked the ball as he was falling backwards on the edge of the six yard box and poor old Jhonatan can only defect it into the net. I won't bother finishing that sentence either then.

64 ➡️⬅️ Gonçalves replaced by Fernandes. I'm not entirely sure he was that happy with that decision whilst sat on a brace.

66 Trincão whips in a shot from 18 yards and Jhonatan to his credit does well with a diving save

67 Flares from the end Sporting are attacking. I'd like to know the total amount Sporting were fined last season for the use of pyrotechnics. I'm imagining it was a six figure sum

69 Geny booked as he mistimed a sliding tackle wide left. To be fair to him he doesn't complain. To be fair to the referee he couldn't have had any complaints either. Correct decision.

70 Corner to Rio Ave as Diomande marshalls the ball away from Clayton. They'll have to shake his pockets out before Rio Ave get on the team bus to find him again. He's probably wishing he stayed in Brazil right now.

72 Trincão and Gyökeres break against four defenders but that's of little consequence as the Swede brings out a diving save. He knows that was a real chance to make it 4 as he looks to the sky with anguish on his face. Poor connection on his shot if we're being honest. Not quite back to his sharp self yet as we saw in the second half of Porto when he could have made it 4-1. But my god a half fit Gyökeres is still virtually unplayable at times.

73 Trincão has woken up finally just at the point it looks like he's about to come off

75 ➡️⬅️ Trincão and Geny make way for Bragança and Edwards. Reis also comes on for Hjulmand. Bragança takes the captain's armband.

77 Gyökeres off to the races again. Charges into the box from close to the half way line when he began his run. Shot went wide of the right post. He felt he was impeded by the defender as he took the shot with a pull back and the fact he was off balance would suggest he had a point but nothing given.

80 Clever ball across the corridor of uncertainty from Edwards but no one was there to knock it home. Bragança wasn't far off. That all came from a great first touch by the Englishman to lose his marker and make space for himself to get the cross away

81 Kovačević picks out a cross. Shame to have had to get his gloves dirty really.

84 Sporting just went to sleep at the back as Kovačević does his best Jhonatan impression with his kick out from the back. Said before I'm not entirely convinced about his kicking whereas A Bola have been going - oh isn't it wonderful. I'm not convinced. Give it a hoof man.

88 ➡️⬅️ Ribeiro on for Morita. His boots will be like Kovačević's gloves with two minutes to play - spotless.

89 Bragança with the Hollywood shot from 25 yards which whistles over the bar. He's going to drive me crazy this season. Gonçalves was guilty of it last season. Spend a little less time on your hair and trying to score wonder goals from shots that don't even hit the target and there might actually be a half decent player in there.

89 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Rio Ave 1. Clayton beat the offside trap, put Diomande on his backside, made space for himself to then slot the ball comfortably past Kovačević. The lads shaken himself free of Diomande’s pocket. I take it all back.

Additional time +3

+2 Post. So close to four for Sporting. I thought Ribeiro was going to square that to Geny who was free running in from the left but he went alone and his shot cannoned off the far post and back out.

Full time

Sporting CP 3 Rio Ave 1

The final word

Well that didn't quite end as well as I'd hoped. I was just preparing my speech for how Diomande was my man of the match for a flawless performance and Clayton put him on his arse. Other than that I was hugely impressed by his display and after last week it was really needed. Somewhere in the world there was one writer who said his form had dropped off when he came back from the African Cup of Nations and lazy fucking copywriters just kept repeating that same narrative with transfer speculation surrounding a possible departure. Fuck off with your lazy two bit shit journalism where you never watch a player and just repeat the opinions of others. I've really no time for it. If you've watched him every week and think it then fine, but form your own fucking opinions. Anyways that goal aside the defence did their job perfectly and he was the man co-ordinating it all. Sometimes you can't have it all and after the chaos of Braga and Vizela the last two seasons they were never troubled in the 88 minutes before the consolation goal.

I am genuinely chuffed that Gonçalves seems back to his old self. I was highly critical of his performances last season especially in the opening months. I wonder if his nose was pushed out of joint by the arrival of Gyökeres and a want and desire to still be the main man in front of goal whereas the Swede is the total opposite. Yes he wants to score but more importantly he wants to win and we saw how many assists he had to his name last season alongside his goal tally.

It could just well be the level of opposition but I am of the strong opinion that Geny had come on leaps and bounds in his defensive duties. His shooting seems to still leave a lot to be desired but his overall game continues on a great trajectory and he looks comfortable out on the left and there's no guarantee Nuno Santos takes that position back when fully fit. He's given Amorim the same headache he had twelve months ago when he first burst on the scene on the right flank.

I wonder if we'll see Debast come in the right of the three for Quaresma. He's still got the odd mistake in his game which won't always go unpunished in games. Not that Debast is adverse to making the same errors mind as we saw for Porto's opening goal last week.

Morita looked better this week but Trincão offered little and Edwards started the season last time out the better of the two. If he's to get a move back to the Premier League he needs game time. If your going to keep him, again he needs game time. Amorim could have made that same change on the hour. Quenda was largely quiet out on the wing but when you've got Gyökeres and his insatiable appetite to pick the ball up and run you don't need Quenda as your Swiss pocket knife to unlock the defence from the right. You've a sharper Swedish one. Who knew that the Swedes made a better pocket knife hey? Well done Mr and Mrs Gyökeres on the production of your fine son.

I guess that just leaves the man of the match and apologies to Diomande who would have gotten it had we kept the clean sheet because I felt that was so important after last week, but truth be told that would have been awarded just as much as so I didn't just give it to Gyökeres once more. That being said it's impossible not to give it to him. He's clearly not match fit and yet he never stops running, never stops giving Sporting an outlet all across the front line. He's coming in from the left, the right, the centre... He starts his runs on the halfway line and yet defences still cannot cope with him and somehow he still gives you the impression he can get better which seems ridiculous when you look at his performances and numbers from last season. Not that anyone of note would ever read this but just incase you want to Obi Wan Kenobi it - ‘Nothing to see here, this isn't the forward you're looking for. He can go about his business.’ He is the real deal and when he is back to full fitness and that sharpness in front of goal he's got a real chance to break last season's figures. Thank heavens for PSR because he's going to cost you that €100m termination clause in one payment. The fans of this club would not forgive the board if they budge from that position and nor should they. He's worth every euro even when not fully fit and how many players can you say that about in world football. Not many.