Moreirense 2 Sporting CP 1

The warm up

Sporting travel to the Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas to take on a Moreirense team that they've never lost to in all competitions. The game follows two straight losses at the Alvalade to Arsenal and Santa Clara and the new coach João Pereira will need to learn fast from his mistakes if he's to be the long term solution for Sporting. I was trying to work out when the last time Sporting lost two games on the bounce was and amazingly I didn't even have to check as it dawned on me pretty quickly that we'd lost the Supertaça to Porto and the last competitive game of the previous season was the Taça de Portugal final defeat, also to Porto. I'll take the Arsenal loss, they've spent £700m under Arteta, finished second in the Premier League and had scored five against West Ham in the following game by half time. I'm still fuming about the loss to Santa Clara Saturday though. For some reason that has rankled with me more than any game I can remember in years and there's been a fair few. I dug the new mister out post game with criticism but the players need to probably be dug out as well. That's the problem when you're angry, it's hard to gain real clarity of thought in the moment. A friend of mine was talking about penalties not being awarded and that didn't even register on any level with me. Maybe that's an age thing. If you're having to be reliant on penalties to draw or beat Santa Clara then something is fundamentally broken. Kovačević had a pass out from the back that was shocking and set the tone defensively and really and truthfully that should have been punished and the score made 1-0. Sporting definitely got away with one there. Debast’s pass back from just over the halfway line that went out for a corner was inexcusable, that for me is laziness of the highest degree. I don't think you'd ever see Quaresma make the same mistake there. As for Bragança doing exactly the same thing but out for a goal kick, he is stealing a living as a footballer. In England he'd be a League Two player at best. I don't ever remember him ever being linked with another club. Even Ricardo Esgaio was linked with moves away in the summer and he's the oldest player in the squad at 31. If he'd been born with the looks of Marcos Acuña he'd have been shipped off a long time ago. How he finished the game Saturday baffles me and that's not the first time I've written that this season and I don't think it will be the last. His best game has come against Amarante and no offence to them which really means by all offence to them, they're a Liga 3 outfit. I'm sure in training he probably looks amazing but out on the pitch when the pressure is on he's not not good enough for the player he thinks he is in his head. Try just doing the simple things well. People have a pop at Esgaio but I'd take the latter over Bragança any day of the week. Why has Morita replaced Hjulmand and not Bragança? As for Pereira’s other substitutions, someone explain to me the benefit of changing two of your back three when you're 1-0 down and the opposition are intent on not crossing the half way line and just clearing balls away for 45 minutes? Why swap Geny out wide right when everything positive has gone through him on the left first half? Same with taking Edwards off after 45. The left hand side wasn't the issue, the right hand side was. What's the point in naming Fresneda and Esgaio amongst the substitutes? If you felt Quenda needed to come off then you could still have kept Geny where he was doing more damage. Grrrrrr. I'll shut up otherwise you'll be reading this all day.

So Moreirense away, despite Sporting's record against them this game is by no means a certainty especially given our last two results. Last month they knocked Porto out of the Taça de Portugal 2-1 and took a point against the dirty pigeons in one of Roger Shits last games in charge. Sorry Schmidt, Freudian slip. Our nearest and not quite dearest needed a penalty in the seventh minute of additional time to gain the point that night. 

So far they've not lost at home either in their wonderfully extraordinarily long named stadium. I'm not typing the bugger in a second time. Scroll back up. I hope Portuguese commentators give it the full welly when they have to name it on TV or radio. Anything shorter is short changing their fans. To date at home played 5, won 3, drawn 2 and they're conceding on average less than a goal a game having conceded 4 in total. Their troubles have come on the road where they've lost 5 of 7 winning the other two. Top scorer is Luis Asué with 4 in the league. 

I was looking at their average long ball stats and it's 24.7 per game but only with a success rate of 43%. So by my maths and bear in mind I've not been in school for 30 years, that's an average attempted number of long balls per game of 57.44 - can't wait for this game on Thursday. Get it launched. You've got to imagine they've watched Santa Clara in a 5-4-1 formation and figure we'll have a bit of that ourselves lads, this new bloke didn't have a fucking clue how to bypass it Saturday night. 

Looking down their squad I was trying to see if they've any connections with Sporting and couldn't see any but did spot the wonderfully named Godfried Frimpong. Sadly having checked it's said aloud like Hod-freed but if Gyökeres has him on toast I'll say he's been God-fried. Christ we need Viktor to remember what the onion bag behind the keeper is for. 

In the corresponding fixture last season I finished my post by writing In summary unless you were there in person I don't think this game will hold any memories come the end of the season. Let's firstly hope for better in Thursday's game but I'd take another 2-0 in the same manner if I had to. They certainly had the better of the opening 45 at the José Alvalade earlier in the campaign and by the time the two sides met again on matchday 21 Moreirense had recorded 10 clean sheets to Sporting's 8. Sporting need to show some mettle on Thursday night and cannot afford to have one eye on the Champions League fixture away in Belgium to Club Brugge the following Tuesday especially after Porto and the dirty pigeons both won to cut Sporting's lead at the top of the table. 

Regular readers may remember I posed the question of what would happen to this side if they got punched in the mouth? So far the answer seems to be walking away bloodied and with the tail between their legs. To date we hadn't missed Coates but Saturday night we did. I think maybe the players took it for granted having won every game at home last season that they'd just find a way and they never looked like doing it. So maybe they can try having a 100% away record this season instead. I don't think for a single second they will dear reader. I don't even really mind losing in the league, it takes the pressure off slightly. My gripe is the manner of defeat. If you can walk off and feel hard done by and know that the players gave everything then I can't ask for more. Oh I've started again haven't I… 

Sorry!

In the markets 

Moreirense 15/2

Draw 15/4

Sporting 4/11

Team News 

Starting XI 

Kovačević, Inácio, Diomande, St Juste, Reis, Hjulmand, Morita, Geny, Bragança, Gyökeres and Trincão 

Substitutes

Callai, Debast, Fresneda, Esgaio, Simões, Quenda, Edwards, Harder and Araújo 

Three changes to the starting XI from Santa Clara. The big changes happening positionally. Out goes Debast for St Juste. Reis moves one forward with Inácio coming into his favoured position left of the back three. With Reis moving forward Geny starts where he finished last week out wide right, meaning Quenda misses out. Morita comes back into the centre four and Edwards the other who misses out as Bragança gets the chance in the Gonçalves role. 

It's hard to argue against anyone who says we've left ourselves light in midfield after the summer window so you would be justified I think in questioning why Pereira is starting Hjulmand, Morita and Bragança. Maybe Bragança will surprise as Fresneda has done wide left when he's featured this season. He'll know more about Simões than the rest of us so he clearly has faith on the youngster. Has the mister stacked the bench with potential get out of jail free cards after the last defeat? I hope Bragança proves because if I was coach he would be plying his trade in Liga 3 with the B team. 

First half 

Sporting all in black attack left to right. Moreirense get us underway 

1 Volley from the edge of the area by Madson deflected off Hjulmand for a corner. The resulting corner goes all the way out the other side for a throw. Looks a miserable night out there for the players. 

3 Defensive header catches Geny unawares as it strikes him and returns goalwards only for the same defender to kick it out for a corner 

4 Inácio header goes a yard over the bar from a Trincão corner. You feel he should at least be hitting the target in and around the six yard box. Still at least a corner resulted in an attempt on goal. 

7 Nice run from Geny with four men in front of him. For all the hype around Quenda I still think he's the better option out wide at present.

8 PENALTY Yellow shown to Marcelo who took Gyökeres out on the left of the box. No need for a VAR check there. Night and day. He was trying to take his shirt for his collection and then slipped and caught him with both legs. No need to ask who'll take it. Gyökeres with the ball. 

11 GOAL Moreirense 0 Sporting CP 1. Despite nearly three minutes passing from the penalty award the Swede wasn't phased as he tucks the ball calmly into the bottom left hand corner past the outstretched hand of Kewin. 

14 Wild shot with the outside of the boot by Pinto from 14 yards ends up in the side netting. Kovačević had it covered. That came from a pull back from the far left which went all the way across goal after Geny had been dumped on his backside trying to make the tackle. Sporting will need to watch that in the box having been the beneficiaries of a penalty the other end 

17 Sporting's passing looks a lot crisper in an attacking sense than the Santa Clara game. Gyökeres sets Geny free but his effort deflects off a defender and into the keepers arms from 8 yards 

17 Inácio shown a yellow for a foul on Montero. Not sure that was even a foul let alone a yellow card offence. 

18 GOAL Moreirense 1 Sporting CP 1. From the resulting free kick wide right it finds the first man Pinto who heads home unmarked from 12 yards. Triple punishment for Sporting. I'll have to see the foul again but the replay suggested Inácio didn't even touch him 

25 Hjulmand taking no prisoners in midfield. There's some real needle in this game from both sets of players and it wouldn't surprise me if one side finishes with ten men. Tough game for the official Antonio Nobre. He's doing his best to calm tempers to give him his due

29 Despite the miserable weather the Sporting fans are enjoying themselves at least and keeping warm bouncing up and down behind Kovačević in the Sporting goal 

30 Patient buildup from Sporting. Came to nothing but just letting runs open space up which they were guilty of not doing against Santa Clara. Better performance especially in testing conditions

33 Good transitional attack from the home side down the left switching between three overlapping players on the left seen out by St Juste 

34 Kovačević quickly down low to save at his near post from 8 yards from Alan and diverts the ball out for a corner. 

34 GOLAZZO Moreirense 2 Sporting CP 1. Horror show from Sporting as Geny throws the ball in error to Schettine who thought all his Christmases had come at once and smashed it first time from 20 yards. I missed that first time because I was in the process of writing that Sporting need to be careful down that left side. How prophetic 

37 Trincão shoots from 18 yards, deflects goalwards and Kewin gets a hand to push it out for a corner 

41 Hollywood shanks it behind the goal from long range. 

42 Gyökeres sees his deflected out for another corner 

43 Bragança fires his second effort in two minutes behind the goal from 20 yards. He really is dog shit 

Plus two indicated 

+2 Kovačević saves down low at his near post. Referee blows his whistle and brings the opening 45 to a close 

Half time

Moreirense 1 Sporting CP 2 

Oddly it's not been a bad performance, sometimes you just cannot legislate for those little lapses in concentration which prove to be oh so costly. Over the years I've seen us struggle in the wet so many times and never get the run of the green so this does feel typical of Sporting but even at 2-1 they're not out of this game. They just need to stop making mistakes and shooting themselves in the foot.

The decision to play Bragança hasn't paid off. If he stays on you can only assume he has comprising photos of João Pereira in his locker. 

It had all started so brightly for Sporting with the penalty award. Interestingly they've not shown the foul again at half time that led to the free kick which they equalised from so I'm still none the wiser. Inácio’s reaction was certainly one where he felt the referee had been conned. The lack of marking for the header though has to be a worry. Whipped in ball met the first man and he won't have scored many easier goals in his career. The second whilst an incredible finish was one of those moments Geny will be seeing in his sleep for years to come. He literally picked out the only player in a white shirt in front of him who swiveled and hit an incredible volley. There's no point going in on the lad when he'll feel terrible already. 

Moreirense have played especially well down that left hand side. You wonder if Geny would actually be better out left hand side second half and having the extra defensive man on the right. Having swapped him last week incorrectly it'll probably look like indecision on Pereira's part of he did it again this week. It was wrong last week but that wouldn't make it wrong this week. 

Second Half 

Sporting get the half underway. No changes to the side. 

49 Wild slice with the outside of the left boot from 24 yards goes well wide from Frimpong. That was fried. Not sure if it was God-fried. 

50 Trincão smashes the ball into the face of a defender on the floor from 8 yards. Suggestion that Gyökeres shirt was tugged moments before then. Bragança I think at the far post who passes it straight back to the defender. How have we not equalised somewhere in there? In the end it's a corner 

52 BAR Hjulmand leaning back gets his head onto the ball and straight onto the bar. That wasn't an easy header but he did really well from about four yards to send it goalwards

53 Play acting on the touchline from one of the Moreirense players who spun like he'd had a dumbbell dropped on his foot. Morita just looks at him as if to say what planet are you from. Again I don't think he even touched him 

54 Gyökeres brought down again but the referee was right in front and unmoved. The defender's leg appears to connect but the right choice made I feel by the referee. The players aren't making it easy on him in tough conditions 

59 Corner to Moreirense. This game still is anyone's but if Sporting get the equaliser you can see Moreirense deflating. Problem is they look equally as likely to score a third 

61 Bragança unmarked fires his shot at the defender on the edge of the box from 23 yards 

62 Gyökeres brought down for a free kick 

63 Trincão finds Diomande at the far post but he puts it behind for a goal kick

64 Araújo and Quenda on. Bragança and St Juste off. There's two minutes additional time for all the Moreirense substitutions before the Sporting players came on. 

65 Silva Goes through the back of Geny. How was that not a booking? Right under the nose of the referee. I think he's let him off that because he'd been on the pitch less than a minute. That's ridiculous 

69 This game is just starting to feel like it did against Santa Clara. Sporting need a spark from somewhere

70 Long ball for Gyökeres to chase. Kewin was quickly out to take it off his toes. Good keeping 

71 Just to confirm Geny is now operating out wide left. Moreirense to be fair haven't been as dangerous down the opposing wing as they were opening 45 in terms of what I'd written at half time 

75 Sporting just had a spell in which they held the ball for well over a minute, patiently moving it from one side of the pitch to the other. There's no doubting their quality it's just that final pass right now that's not coming off in the final third 

76 Alan goes through the back of Hjulmand. Free kick outside the area, maybe ten yards out? Camera cuts to the subs bench. Not helpful folks. 

77 Harder and Debast come on for Geny and Diomande.

77 Quenda decides to go for goal from what must have been fully 30 yards. He's a good future in NFL. It's good. What a waste. 

80 Yellow to Ismael for a shocking challenge on Hjulmand from behind

80 BAR Inácio heads onto the crossbar this time. Sometimes you feel it really isn't going to be your night. That came from a Hjulmand cross to the edge of the six yard box, the header went back across goal and landed on top of the bar the far corner 

84 The Moreirense coach has been like a conductor all game, out on the side encouraging his players. Pereira may have popped off for a cup of tea for all we know. 

85 Silva yellow. Literally no idea what for. Good job I don't get paid for this. * Post game the D.O.G. flashed Silva. Had it said Kewin I might have guessed it was to the keeper for time wasting. Still don't quote me on that. 

87 Debast lobs the ball at Kewin from 40 yards like they're at Lords and he's the wicket keeper practicing his takes. Sums up Sporting's second half. Kewin can barely disguise his grin as he takes an hour to get up off the floor

88 Shout for a penalty. Kewin comes to punch and takes Harder off his feet. Nothing given. I mean he's literally punched him in the face with both hands. He'd also got the ball first but still. 

89 Pereira gets off his arse and wafts his hands about. Whoopee. Thanks for coming mister. It's nice to know you're here.  

Plus six shown 

+1 Could add plus sixty. It's not happening is it

Full time 

Moreirense 2 Sporting CP 1 

The final word 

You could play that game in the same conditions ten times and finish with not one scoreline the same. Sometimes fortunes smiling down on the opposition and you have to take it on the chin. Having been left really angry after Santa Clara, tonight I went outside, sparked up, shook my head and let out a solitary long laugh. What can you do? 

The fact the TV company didn't once show the Inácio foul that led to the opener leads me to believe he's been done up like the proverbial kipper. Maybe one day I'll see it and have it confirmed. As for the winner, I said it at half time mistakes happen. If I'd done that it would be number 4,096 on my list of stupid shit I've done in my 46 years on this earth. You can tell he's gutted so draw the line under it. 

The Bragança experiment failed spectacularly. Please don't try repeating it. He's not and never has been a top flight footballer, he's the second coming of Alan Ruiz. 

Could we and should we have taken something from the game? Yes. Was it an improved performance? Yes. Well that was easy.

In the last summing up I said that João Pereira will be fortunate to still be in the role come May. I'm not calling for his head. He does need to get up to speed though and fast. He doesn't strike me as being the most inspiring of coaches. The opposition coach was at it all game. Fine if you don't want to micro manage your side I've no issue with that. However if I'm a player looking at the bench and there's a vacant stare Paddington Bear would be proud of then I'm not really thinking this is the man we need. 

We're stuck with two goalkeepers who would do well to keep a clean sheet right now if we allowed both to play in goal at the same time. Finally this is the point where we can go - we miss Coates and we do. That's not a slight on Hjulmand who has impressed me so much this season as a player and in his role as captain. But he can't do what Coates did and just bring a level of calmness either side of him with Diomande and Inácio and that's what this side needs right now. 

Yes Moreirense looked dangerous first half down the left and maybe it was them swapping out five players second half or maybe we figured it out. Doesn't matter. Apart from that there were large periods where we did look comfortable, the build up was patient. Crisp passes moving the balls from one flank to the other. Tick in the box. No complaints there. It's like the meal you taste in preparation and go hmmmm there's something missing. Question is what is that something? If you start with Harder wide on the left you don't have an impact sub with his ability to come on. Flipside that though if you're winning then it doesn't matter and you can do the reverse. We know how good Gyökeres is out wide on the left. He started as a winger. Most of his runs and shots came from there tonight anyway so you could go left to right with Gyökeres, Edwards and Trincão. The Swede won't have been helped by whoever came out the the Messi stat. Will he break his goalscoring record… no he's Lionel Messi for fucks sakes. Let the poor lad be. Same when people go he's scoring a lot of penalties. Yes that's because before he can get his shot away he's been fouled in the box for a penalty. Fuck me clown school has a lot of new students this year. 

It'll click. We've not become a bad side overnight. It's like getting into a relationship later on in your adult life where both partners already have kids. It's all new. There's a huge level of awkwardness but at some point that all goes away and you forget it ever happened. If we'd lost the opening two and won the next eleven we'd all be going fucking hell this is some turn around. 

They need a decent keeper and midfielder in January but the club aren't going to sanction either so maybe you try Debast in midfield instead of right of the back three. We've too many bodies in certain positions, the squad isn't balanced. 

Anyways I could ramble on all night. Massive shout out to the away fans. Brilliant all night. Unwavering support. That leaves my man of the match which goes to the captain Hjulmand. See told you I wasn't having a go earlier when I mentioned Coates.

Off to Belgium we go.

Just as a footnote I've seen the XG from the game 0.3 Vs 1.94 so it really was that sort of night if you didn't get to watch the game.