Vitória S.C. 4 Sporting CP 4

The warm up

So farewell 2024 it's been one hell of a ride and welcome 2025 and all you might bring, 12 months that have seen Sporting crowned Champions, lose the final of the Taça de Portugal and Supertaça, win their opening 11 league games of this season, beat Manchester City 4-1 in the Champions League and lose Ruben Amorim to Manchester United. João Pereira’s short eight game tenure, Rui Borges being given the role of the new mister and finally to bring the curtain down on the year of 2024, a 1-0 derby win at the Jose Alvalade in the misters first game. Honestly you don't get that level of drama in EastEnders. Oh and some chap called Gyökeres, he scored 62 goals in 2024 for club and country. That's not bad is it? 

More by good fortune than grace Sporting start this new year in first place in the table even if it is only by virtue of their head to head record with Porto with the two sides level on 40 points and the dirty pigeons 2 points behind in third. Sunday night's derby win truly was a game of two halves with Sporting dominant in the opening 45, going in at half time with a fully deserved 1-0 lead from a Geny Catamo goal. Boy oh boy does that young man save the majority of his goals for the derbies and classicos. Rui Borges switched to a 4-4-2 formation and Sporting looked all the better for it in both an attacking and defensive sense. They certainly needed to be the latter in the second half. 

Come full time the pigeons coach Bruno Lage would lay claim that his side deserved a draw and I have to say that was my initial thought after the final whistle. However, when Sporting lost to Santa Clara in the league I gave full credit to the game plan of the side from the Azores and the way they carried it out. So I don't think in this case that I'm being hypocritical by suggesting that Sporting deserved all three points in the derby. I cannot think of a single golden opportunity where I thought Benfica could have scored during the 90 and I'm happy to be proven wrong if someone disagrees on that point. We've frequently find Sporting having the lion's share of possession as they did in the second half but it counts for nothing if you can't stop the ball from going into your net and actually putting the ball into your opposition's net. Sporting looked defensively sound pretty much for the entirety of the game and at any point they didn't it was because of their own mistakes, not because of the attacking prowess of the opposition. So yes, for me a fully deserved victory and 3 crucial points. 

I don't know who will win the title this season. Keep your hands in your pockets and save your money. It will be one of the big three… as it is every season. For every Vitória de Guimaraes that dares to dream and climb higher, there is a Sporting Clube de Portugal who go - we've had our coach stolen during the season, I think we'll have yours as our replacement doesn't seem to be working out. Football isn't fair but then again life's not fair. So apologies to the fans of Vitória, we share your pain in having your coach stolen just when things appeared to be going rather well. Mind you I write that, they might have said good riddance, one can't presume to know everything. Regular readers will know I never fully made my mind up over Ruben Amorim and whether he was the Emperor's New Clothes. His record so far at Manchester United suggests that he may well be exactly that but he has inherited the Uncoachables. Actually that's probably unfair because he's had no time to coach them so maybe they are coachable and instead just more than a bit shite. Like all things time will tell. 

So Sporting travel to Guimaraes, familiar surroundings for the new mister, the side he left sitting second in the Europa Conference League table. For their fans like ours we should be grateful for what the departing mister achieved. We should be graceful and wish them well in their new endeavours but we know life doesn't work like that. Rarely when a relationship ends does anyone hope the other side goes on to find happiness, that's human nature for you. We're all fickle people, let's be honest. So whilst the staff and players of Vitória might welcome him back with a smile and warm greetings you imagine the fans might not be as welcoming. Or maybe they will, we shall find out Friday night.

Vitória go into the game off the back of two Desmond's, the last coming against lowly Farense who climbed off the bottom of the table with their point earned with an equaliser that came 8 minutes into additional time. If that wasn't as bad enough a kick in teeth, the game before against Nacional, saw their equaliser come in the 3rd minute of additional time. I don't know what the Portuguese equivalent of the RSPCA is but the old joke in England is that the club should be reported for not being able to hold onto a lead. 

This will be Vitórias 8th home game of the season, and being round 17, the midway point of the Portuguese season, the good news for them on paper at least is that their second half of the season will see them play 9 games at home where their record is better as they try secure a European place for a second successive season. Currently they lie in 6th, six points off Santa Clara. Had they not succumbed to those two late goals in their last two games they'd be just two points off. Their record at the Estádio Dom Alfonso Henriques reads; played seven, won 4, drawn 2 and lost 1. That solitary loss came against Porto. Goals for 12, goals against 8. 

Seven new faces in the summer, only two of whom warranted a fee. The big transfer for Vitória was the departure of the Jack Grealish sycophant Jota Silva who left for the Premier League with Nottingham Forest for a paltry £6m. I stand by what I previously wrote that I thought he'd have been a massive upgrade on Nuno Santos wide left and £6m is chicken feed for a lad of his talent. I hope they've at least got a decent percentage for a sell on clause inserted into his Forest contract. I'm guessing that £6m was the value of his termination clause and that's why Sporting set theirs above their true market value for all their players. Maybe on that basis they haven't got any sell on clause and that would be sad for a club of their size. Sporting paid Vitória €4.5m for Rui Borges services and immediately inserted a €20m clause into his Sporting contract - It pays to protect your assets where possible. 

Guimaraes has not always been the happiest of hunting grounds for Sporting in recent seasons. Vitória won the corresponding fixture 3-2 last season and one win in the derby is not a sign that this side is back and that we should assume we will come away with all three points. They did however have a more comfortable 3-0 home win the last time the two sides met in April with Gonçalves scoring the opener and a brace for Gyökeres. The former will hopefully be back on the pitch sooner rather than later as Sporting start to get players back to full fitness having had Morita back last time out. 

Stories are circulating that Jorge Mendes has offered the services of Trincão to AC Milano who are now coached by Sergio Conceição. Barcelona currently own half his registration, a deal which I believe expires at the point of his current contract and the speculation you could surmise stems from the Catalonian's need to raise funds to be able to register Dani Olmo for the second half of the season. I very much doubt that the ex-Porto coaches first thought was - get me Trincão from my old rivals Sporting. He seems incredibly settled at Sporting and talk has been in recent months of signing him to a new improved contract. So I'll leave you all to try and work out which is correct. Talk has also quietened about Manchester United putting in an early bid for the services of Quenda so that they can bring him in when he turns 18 and beat the competition. It was confirmed this week that United face breaching PSR regulations in the Premier League and simply don't have the financial room for signings in the January transfer window without first selling players to raise funds. If you were Geovany Quenda, surely the last place you'd want to land the next stage of your career would be at Manchester United anyway. They're now the graveyard for young talent from across Europe. I don't Quenda is at a level whereby he's a first choice starter at Sporting let alone at a Premier League team. You only have to look at the career of Renato Sanchez now back at the pigeons to know that the grass isn't always greener. If he's any sense he'll not listen to the likes of Jorge Mendes who undoubtedly might add a few euros to the youngsters bank balance but he's not going to make you into a world great. The man is too motivated by earning a pound note. It troubles me that any of our players are signed to him if I'm being honest. Mind you Portuguese football has to survive on the revenues generated by players' sales and on that front there probably is no better person in Portugal so I guess you have to get into bed with the devil on some level. 

Talk had been of Fresneda returning to Spain but interestingly he was used as a substitute in the derby coming in from the cold and I think he's actually looked quite effective when I've seen him this season in the cups. Maybe the new mister sees him as part of his plans for the rest of the season at least. 

The club have steadfastly held their position during the last two windows that players will only leave for their termination clauses and if the big boys couldn't do a deal in the summer they're hardly likely to be in a financial position to do so in the winter window. So realistically any sales or departures will come with the likes of say an Esgaio who was close to departing for his former side Braga during the summer. Marcus Edwards might be the one they have to let go given his contract situation and a lack of game time. There comes a point whereby you cut your losses. I wonder how much the Camacho deal cost the club in the end? Probably a lot more than it will have done to have signed Edwards and in wages by way of comparison. Sporting's squad has looked threadbare in a lot of departments all season owing to a string of injuries to key players. It doesn't make any sense to let bodies go the way they fall down like the plague right now. I wonder if they sing ring a roses in training? I digress, they still need another midfielder for me and I'm still not convinced by either goalkeeper. I have no issue with the club going into the loan market as they used to do every season especially given the signings of Rafael and Koindredi last January, neither of whom made any sense and both were back out the door come the next window. 

In the markets 

Vitória 7/2

Draw 27/10

Sporting 3/4

Team News

Starting XI

Israel, Reis, St Juste, Diomande, Quaresma, Quenda, Hjulmand, Morita, Geny, Trincão and Gyökeres

Substitutes

Kovačević, Debast, Fresneda, Simões, Brito, Edwards, Harder, Araujo and Couto

No changes to the starting XI from the derby win. One envisages that Sporting again start with the switch to a 4-4-2 and no curve ball from the mister. A solitary change to the matchday squad as 19 year old midfielder Alexandre Brito is included for the first time. In 90 plus match posts I've done that's the shortest piece I've ever written in this section. Why change a winning formula?

First Half

Apparently the Nacional - Porto game was abandoned earlier so Sporting have the chance to open their lead in the table to three points tonight. Round 17 gets underway with Vitória the only side Sporting are yet to play this season. Sporting wearing their black, white and green horizontal kit will attack right to left. Vitória get us underway.

Vitória fans do their hymn to the overture of we are sailing. Might need some work frankly.

1 GOAL The Vitória fans haven't even finished their hymn and it's Vitória 0 Sporting CP 1. Quenda plays Gyökeres in on the left and he pokes the ball past Varela from eight yards. That goal followed Sporting's first transition which saw them crisply pass from their own area all the way into the home area. The final ball from Quenda to Gyökeres just had too much pace on it but Sporting cut through the entire team with ease.

4 Sporting on the attack again. A Gyökeres ball finds Geny on the right of the area and his shot brings a save and out for a corner. Frenetic start.

5 Cheap free kick conceded by Quaresma.

6 GOAL From 26 yards Israel beaten all ends up. Tiago Silva with a fantastic strike onto the bottom left hand corner. Vitória 1 Sporting CP 1.

9 Saku shown the yellow card as he pulls down Gyökeres. Given his size it was more akin to a rugby tackle. You don't see many overweight professional footballers in the modern game.

11 Worrying signs as St Juste limps down the pitch.

13 GOAL Vitória 1 Sporting CP 2. Gyökeres is unplayable tonight as he slots the ball low past Varela from 18 yards. That came from a Quenda through ball which had too much pace on it but was good enough to bypass the defence nonetheless. The Swede did the rest

16 Silva bends a shot from just outside the D two yards wide of the right post.

17 Morita shown the yellow for a blatant tug of the shirt. The referee isn't letting anything go tonight.

19 Silva goes down in the box but the referee was unmoved. St Juste with lightning speed to get back. I'd guess from the referee's angle he felt St Juste had used his shoulder but from the reverse angle it's his thigh that makes contact with Silva and he doesn't get the ball. I'd be pissed if I was a Vitória fan that's not been given

23 This game has all the feel of a derby. The Rui Borges factor seems to have added spice to the occasion.

24 Manu leaves his foot in on a challenge with Hjulmand who looks less than impressed. Players from both sides need to watch themselves tonight otherwise it'll end up 10 v 11 at some point.

26 Sporting maybe a little fortunate to not concede a second. Deflected shot from Kaio ended up at the back post where a pass across the six yard box thankfully went harmlessly all the way through to safety

37 Hjulmand leathers a shot just past the left hand post from 27 yards. Vitória defensively are all over the shop

40 Silva's night looks like it's over as he tries a foot race with St Juste and waves frantically, pulls up waving his hand and then face plants into the turf.

42 Silva leaves the pitch on a stretcher to warm applause. Michel comes on in his place.

Plus five shown

45 Sublime piece of skill from Quenda opens up the space for a shot but he blasts it over from 20 yards

46 Kaio blasts over from 20 yards. Don't young professional players get tight not to lean back when they shoot anymore?

48 Quenda's confidence seems to be growing tonight as once more the defender struggles to cope with his pace and trickery. Corner to Sporting

Half time

Vitória de Guimarães 1 Sporting CP 2

That may not be the best 45 minutes in terms of overall quality this season but it's certainly been one of the most entertaining halves I've seen of the opening 17 rounds. At times it has been more like a basketball match, end to end. It certainly didn't start that way. Sporting had a magnet to the Vitoria goal before Quaresma conceded the free kick which led to the equaliser. It was a cheap free kick to concede and I don't think I'm being unkind to suggest Israel should have done better and at least got a hand to the shot.

That's been Quenda's best half in a Sporting shirt. Confidence is key for any player let alone a 17 year old in his debut season and in recent weeks you can almost watch it drain out of him. Tonight however he knows he's got the beating of whoever is trying to mark him. He's prepared to take his man on and more importantly he's got the space to run into. If the derby was all about playing down the right hand side in the opening half then this has all been about playing down the left hand side.

Gyökeres finishes were both so instinctive. They reminded me in a way of his opening match last season at home to Vizela. Last year's record has been reset. His target for 2025 to beat 62 goals. He'll have to add a few to his total whilst still at Sporting because next season will have a higher calibre of defenders than those here on display at Vitória. They haven't been able to handle either him or Quenda.

This game isn't over by any stretch of the imagination as things stand but you imagine if Sporting get a third early on then it's too much for the home side to be able to pull it back. That's not to say that they can't go on to get something as the game stands.

Second half

The substitute for Vitória that came on just before half time has the first name of Dieu-Merci which even with my lack of French is God thank you. Sounds like me when someone finally agrees with me on something.

Sporting get us back underway. Vitória have a habit of conceding after 90 minutes in recent games let's not forget so I don't think we've seen the last of the goals tonight.

46 Corner to Vitória. Eventually finishes with an Alberto shot from long range which goes harmlessly wide. The home side clearly think they can get something out of the game still

47 Hjulmand is penalised for a foul outside the box. That was soft given he got the ball. 28 yards from goal

48 Long ball to the back post goes harmlessly out for a goal kick. Feels like justice was served there.

49 Ball in from the right headed out for another corner by St Juste. Just like the derby last week Sporting are happy to sit back and defend in the opening minutes and look to hit Vitória on the break. Vitória think they're better than they really are and could pay a heavy price if Gyökeres goes off to the races with a long through ball.

51 Huge cheers as Quaresma wins the ball with a slide tackle. He then passes it straight back to the opposition. Not been his best night

52 Araújo taking instructions from Borges. Geny to go off and Quenda to come wide right?

54 Quenda does come off for Araújo.

55 Yellow shown to Mendes for a pull on Geny

56 GOLAZZO Vitória 1 Sporting CP 3. Wow. That was taking the fucking piss. Geny with a drag back inside the area found Morita who continues his run forward, he laid it off to Araújo to the left who chipped the ball over the defender back to the Japanese international, who headed down to Gyökeres who tapped home. Brilliant, simply brilliant. I've probably missed something out there. Watch it for yourselves. Anyways that's the first hat trick of 2025 for the Swede.

62 Did I mention how much I loved that third goal by the way.

62 Kaio shoves Reis in the back who takes out the assistant referee on the far side. After his trip to the dugout last week his end of season highlights reel will be unlike any other Sporting players. I'd suggest the Benny Hill theme tune being played over the top

64 The home fans thought they'd equalised as a cross hits Hjulmand and deflects into the side net from 7 yards. Optical illusion

66 I wonder if Quaresma could do with being shanked the second half. I'm sure Fresneda can come in. I think the burden of all the injuries in recent weeks has just caught up with him tonight.

68 Vitórias coach watches on from the sidelines with a look that suggests sexual deviant or sexual predator. I'm not sure of which exactly but if you were female you'd not want to run into him at 2am

68 GOAL Vitória 2 Sporting CP 3. Poor marking from Sporting as Kaio fires in from 10 yards into the top right hand corner. Arcanjo probably hasn't had an easier pass to make all season to lay that one gift wrapped. Can't say they've not deserved it though.

71 The home crowd has been lifted by the goal. I'm just waiting for the fourth from Sporting in the 95th minute. Attacking they look great but defensively they can be got at so easily. Mind you bit like Sporting

73 Gyökeres had the back of his heel stood on and no foul given. Unfuckingbelievable. To add insult to injury Gyökeres yellow carded. They showed that about a minute on via the DOGS so I'll guess that was because Gyökeres told him how fucking useless he is which would be correct in that example. Piss poor decision.

76 Israel takes a knee to the side of the face from Arcanjo. That looks less than pleasant.

77 Simões being given instructions from the sidelines.

77 Israel starts with the time wasting. I think the cry that followed was probably the Portuguese equivalent of you're shit ahhhh 77 Low save to the left by Israel from a long range Kaio effort. He's impressed me tonight.

78 Geny off for Simões

80 Sporting need to get a grip of this game…or score a fourth. I'll take the second option.

80 Araújo booked for a late challenge in midfield. One of the Vitória players was winding him up a minute or two ago. He just needs to calm it down

81 GOAL Vitória 3 Sporting CP 3. Well that's been coming. Header onto the bar falls to a Vitória player. His shot rebounds off a defender to Mendes who had all the time and space in the world to slot it home.

84 GOAL Vitória 4 Sporting CP 3. Free kick to the far post headed in from 3 yards by Michel. Jesus fucking Christ.

85 Double substitution as Harder and Fresneda on. Morita and Quaresma off

87 Chance falls to Harder but he puts it behind the goal. Vitória let's not forget love to concede in additional time

88 Rivas yellow for a pull back

89 I'm still in shock. If this is Sporting's plan to sit back and defend after half time every game they're going to need to change it

Plus six shown

90 Gyökeres tries the acrobatic overhead kick but doesn't connect properly

92 Fresneda and Arcanjo showed the yellow card the latter for a foul on the Sporting man and Fresneda for his reaction to the challenge

93 Händel gives Sporting a free kick ten yards inside the opposition half. Comes to nothing.

94 GOAL Vitória 4 Sporting CP 4. Trincão proves my point as he calmly slots into the top right hand corner. Well I've said it all half but didn't factor them scoring twice in two minutes.

Full time

Vitória de Guimarães 4 Sporting CP 4

The final word

Well that was as bad shit crazy a game as you'll ever see. Thoroughly entertaining but Sporting's defending really, really, really leaves so much to be desired it's untrue. Oddly I thought João Pereira had just started to do a job of sorting that problem before he was shown the door. We cannot defend. It's crazy how we have this innate ability to shoot ourselves in the foot. So many cheap free kicks conceded tonight in and around the box and then poor marking. I can't pin the four goals on Israel but he's got to go. I would ship him out faster than you could put a packing label on him.

This notion we can sit back on a 2-1 lead and defend throughout the second half is utterly fanciful. Vitória clearly had a point to prove to the old mister. Their defending was as woeful as ours was. Their keeper was as bad as ours was. Had we taken the game to them in the second half Gyökeres could have had two balls under his arms but for the second straight game we didn't do it. Instead we used our get out of jail free card.

I don't get the Quenda substitution when everything good about Sporting was started through him in the first half. Araújo for all his talent and he is clearly blessed with some, doesn't have the temperament to go with it. I really don't see what the difference between him and Arthur is other than three times the transfer fee. Quaresma had a poor game tonight and whilst all the joy came down the right hand side for Vitória second half, sometimes as a coach you need to recognise that it's not his night for whatever the reason. He left it all on the pitch in the derby. He's been kicked, elbowed and left parts of his body and blood around Europe in the last two months - Let the lad put his feet up.

OK enough of the negatives. Superb hat trick from Gyökeres and that third goal was a joy to watch as a team goal. You won't see many team goals better than that this season, I can promise you that for nothing. Quenda as I said earlier had his best 45 minutes in a Sporting shirt. That's the first time I can remember thinking oh that's the Quenda they keep talking about, OK now I get it. If I was describing it to a West Ham fan I'd say it was prime Michail Antonio. You didn't know if he'd beat his man, have a first touch like a trampoline, over hit his pass... but it was exciting to watch.

This game was exciting to watch, well for the neutral at least. Both sets of fans will come away going how did we not win that? Sporting despite the derby win have a long way to go still. I should look up why the Nacional game was abandoned but you imagine that's an easy three points for Porto when finally played. Benfica should draw level on points making the derby win null and void when they play Braga in the evening game tomorrow. Then the season starts again as you were and we won the opening 11 rounds. We're at the half way stage folks. Played 17, won 23, drawn 2, lost 2. Goals for 48, goals conceded 14. If we keep scoring that way we're in the fight. That's all we can ask for. But when you score and there's not even two minutes gone, when the top scorer in 2024 in world football gets the match ball under his arm at the end of 90 minutes, your defence needs to match that and see you come away with three points. There can be no excuses.

We should see the return of Gonçalves this month. The window is open. Bring a new keeper in please powers that be.