Sporting CP 3 SC Farense 1

The warm up

Sporting welcome a club whom apparently at one stage would have been considered their younger sibling in SC Farense to the José Alvalade for round 20 of the domestic season. For the uninitiated the Algarve based club founded in April 1910 was at that time Branch 2 of Sporting. Well that's what Wikipedia says which means of course readers it could be complete and utter bollocks. Latterly however they've definitely gotten into bed with Lions of a different sort and have links with the chaos that is formally known in their native France as Olympique Lyonnais. 

The Algarve based side love a game against Sporting and have a phenomenal record against the Lisboa giants. Oh no wait, that could be from Wikipedia as well. No I lie, they have an appalling record against Sporting having lost all 7 competitive games since December 2020. Earlier this season in Round 3 Gyökeres completed his hat trick and someone called Marcus Edwards scored the 5th. Name seems vaguely familiar but I can't quite place a face to the name. It'll come back to me I'm sure. Last season they met 3 times in all competitions and with Gyökeres scoring five times across those games. He's going to be proper pissed he turned out against Nacional last weekend. 

Last season following their promotion they finished a highly respectable 10th place 5 points above the relegation places. This season however things haven't gone as smooth sailing as they sit second bottom 3 points from safety hampered by poor away form which has seen them win just once in ten games on the road. To be fair to them they have however managed five draws and have only conceded on average a goal a game. They went down 2-1 to Porto and 2-0 to Braga and actually overall home and away apart from the 5-0 thumping by Sporting no other team has scored more than 2 past them in any league game. Their problem like many smaller clubs is scoring goals. Only 9 players have found the net in the league with Poveda, Matias and Tomané joint top scorers with 2 goals a piece. They've 12 in total after 19 rounds and are behind their XG of 14.6 meaning their forwards aren't able to even put away their better chances the side have managed to fashion over a 90 minutes. 

As stated earlier this week Farense have taken Samuel Justo on loan from us until the end of the season. Keeping goals out seems to be a priority in the transfer window when you look at their signings; Tomas Ribeiro CB, Ze Ferreira RB, Andre's Mehring GK. They have brought back Rui Costa from Tobol Kostanay. No me no neither, not a fucking clue. There he scored 4 in 16. He hardly set the world alight when with the club the first time around with a ratio of 1 goal in every 5 games in 2023/24 although he managed 9 in 33 in their promotion winning season from Liga 2. His best return for a season was at lowly Varzim in 2016/17 when he scored 14 in 45 games. I'm not sure his name on the team sheet will be giving the likes of Diomande and Inácio the cold sweats and sleepless nights. 

Following Gyökeres injury which kept him out of the 1-1 draw with Bologna it leaves Trincão and Quenda as the only two players to have played in every single game across all competitions for Sporting this season. When you look at the list of players who have missed one or more games for Sporting this season through injury it makes truly staggering reading;

Gyökeres, Kovačević, Quaresma, Hjulmand, Gonçalves, Debast, Morita, Edwards, Bragança, Diomande, Inácio, Reis, Nuno Santos, Israel and St Juste. 

To add some of those players have had more than one spell injured; St Juste, Morita, Gonçalves, Nuno Santos, Quaresma (four times), Debast, Inácio. It beggars belief it really does. The fact we've had three coaches, sit six points clear and have reached the play offs of the Champions League is a head scratcher. If my maths are correct we've used a total of 31 players across all competitions this season. Wednesday night of a squad of 23 players, 11 of those were 21 years of age or under. We shouldn't really be anywhere near where we are. At some point you think our misfortune with injuries has to turn. Hasn't happened yet though! It's an incredibly worrying fact that we keep losing players to injury week in and week out but we've got to cling onto the fact that potentially we could benefit from the reverse where in the run-in we've got the likes of Gonçalves back when we need him the most. Time will tell. We've been pretty lucky with suspensions so far if you ignore St Juste and Esgaio getting red cards. Hjulmand will miss the first Champions league play off game after his yellow against Bologna but otherwise the discipline of the Sporting players this season has been pretty exemplary. As I said if you ignore the St Juste and Esgaio sendings off… especially the Esgaio sending off. 

Debast's injury midweek isn't as bad as first feared though he is still doubtful with speculation that Simões will be given a start in the XI. Gyökeres is once more set to miss out with the hope he returns to action against Porto. 

So this is my 100th post. Incredibly people read them for which I am eternally grateful and surprised in equal amounts. Unsurprisingly no one in Portugal gives a shit and why would they because it's written in English and they've got enough writers covering their club in their mother tongue. Amazingly according to the statistics it's been read in 250 territories worldwide which proves to me if nothing else that VPNs really work. You don't care about that though so back to the football. 

The draw for the Champions League has been made. I mean it's not exactly a draw is it, more a series of coin tosses which for Sporting saw heads being BVB and tails Atalanta. The coin landed on heads and I'm sure I can't be the only person grateful to avoid having to sit through the fifth and sixth edition of Sporting Vs Atalanta. Four was more than enough last season and they of course went on to lift the Europa League. Swerved that one I was thinking to myself and then I remembered that BVB went on to be runners up in the Champions League final. Mind you if Sporting won on Wednesday they'd have had to have played either Bayern München or Real Madrid and let's not forget the latter went one better than BVB and won the Champions League. I think BVB was probably the best of the bunch albeit their Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl was pretty cocksure of his side's chances quoted as saying ‘Sporting are a challenging opponent and an exciting challenge. It will be a duel between evenly matched teams, but with the second leg at home... we will qualify.’ Well there's Rui Borges team talk sorted for him. This is the same BVB by the way who sit 11th in the Bundesliga and who've just fired their coach Nuri Sahin. The same BVB who lost 3-1 the last time they came to the José Alvalade and the 1 in that scoreline came after the 90th minute and a team who only managed a 1-0 win back in Germany against us. Maybe they will qualify but they're not the side that went to the final last season. This side is 22 points behind league leaders Bayern München after 19 rounds. Now if we'd drawn Bayern instead and their sporting director had said the same thing I'd probably be going yep - the man makes a good point. 

Financially this season's run in the Champions League has swelled the clubs coffers by €48.984m which to me fully justifies the clubs decision to not sell players under their market value in the summer. Reports coming out of Portugal on Friday suggest a deal has been struck with Manchester United for Quenda to move in the summer for a sum in the region of €60m. Given the success of players who've moved for big money from Portugal in recent times I would personally say that if true, Sporting are getting the better deal for an unproven player. It's like having a giant lump of coal upon which you can just see a glimpse of a diamond. Underneath could be this huge gemstone but equally you could chip away and just find nothing but more coal. Pressure makes diamonds and so far we've seen the confidence drain from him during a number of games. He's hardly setting the world alight with the numbers he's posted this season. Four assists in all competitions across 34 games; 2 in the Liga and 1 a piece in the Champions League and Allianz Cup. Two goals; 1 in the Liga and 1 in the Supertaça. In the Liga he's managed 6 shots on target in 19 games which as a percentage of total shots taken is just 27%. Couple that with a 25% cross accuracy and if I was a United fan I'd be worried about getting the second coming of Anthony at that type of expenditure. The gulf between the Liga and the Premier League is huge. It may be long term his development stands a better chance under Amorim than it does Borges but you worry a few bad performances and his confidence never recovers. From outward appearances he does appear to be blessed with humility which is a great character trait to have but maybe he needs to be more like CR7 to succeed at a club like United and develop that arrogance. When we lost Rafael Leão and Nuno Mendes early on in their careers I was gutted. Maybe we see both of them back as elder statesmen one day who knows. I won't get the same feeling here. I'd certainly wish Quenda all the best if he moves and there would be no animosity from me, just a sense of trepidation on his part and a hope he can succeed. I've written before that the market for Portuguese talent is surely going to suffer after a string of failures so if it means having to sell now for an inflated price whilst they still can then so be it. 

*One deal close to completion we are led to believe is a move for Allison Santos from UD Leiria. The 22 year old Brazilian forward is in a rich vein of form scoring in five of their last seven games including a brace in a 5-0 thrashing of the neighbours B side away from home. Good way to adhere you to Sportinguista's if ever there was one. Speculation still continues as to possible destinations for Marcus Edwards with Championship sides Burnley** and Sunderland reportedly looking to do a deal before Monday's transfer deadline with both clubs in the promotion hunt to the Premier League. I mentioned it midweek but the question of what they do with him if he doesn't leave really does start to loom large. I know the Turkish window usually closes later in the summer. Maybe it does in the winter too and he's seeing what comes in from England before maybe looking at options elsewhere around the world to fall back on. 

Post update - Gabriel Teixeira more commonly known as Biel has signed from Bahia in Brazil according to his current club. We await the official announcement from Sporting. 

* Clearly I've not learned from the Alberto Costa non transfer saga last month. The deal as it stands cannot be completed until Leiria complete a purchase option from his parent club. 

** Burnley are alleged to have a verbal agreement in place with Edwards for him to join. £800,000 loan fee with obligation to purchase at the end of the season. Edwards is also reported to already be in England. Should the Championship club be promoted it's believed there will be a mandatory purchase for €10m. 

In the markets 

Sporting 1/7

Draw 7/1

Farense 16/1

Team News 

Starting XI 

Silva, Araújo, Inácio, Diomande, Fresneda, Geny, Hjulmand, Bragança, Quenda, Harder and Trincão 

Substitutes

Israel, Reis, St Juste, Debast, Quaresma, Esgaio, Simões, Nel, Moreira

Silva swaps once more with Israel in between the sticks having been ineligible for the Champions League game against Bologna. Debast is fit enough to be named amongst the substitutes despite having to be helped off the pitch by staff midweek. Quenda starts and is expected to be wide right with Geny on the opposite flank.

A welcome return to the matchday squad for Eduardo Quaresma. Fingers crossed he can now keep for between now and the end of May. Once more the obvious absences are that of Gyökeres and Morita alongside the long term absentees of Gonçalves and Nuno Santos. No place in the squad either for youngsters Brito, Felicissimo or Couto. There doesn't seem an awful lot of attacking power on the bench should Sporting find themselves chasing a goal later on in the game. 

First Half 

So top plays second bottom what could possibly go wrong? Farense with the added benefit of not playing for seven days. Day light still in Lisboa with promises of brighter days ahead. Sporting in black with green and white horizontal stripes will attack right to left. 

Farense line up in a 3-4-3 where have we seen that at the Alvalade before? Silva looks for his third clean sheet since his arrival from Betis. Farense get us underway. 

1 Patient play from Sporting as Farense defend in a 5-4-1 formation 

3 The palpable tension in the crowd against Bologna has been replaced with an expectant buzz with the home fans in fine voice 

4 Trincão header from 8 yards goes over the bar. Shots of a smiling Gyökeres from the executive boxes. At least his mood is better than his current match fitness 

6 Corner Sporting from the far side. Questions were raised to Borges before the game about the quality of set pieces. If they've been working on them it's not showed. 

8 Sporting win their third corner in three minutes, this time they go short and the ball finally ends at the feet of Harder who hits a shot low from 20 yards collected into the arms of Velho

9 Farense try to play their way out from the back and get caught out. Geny's tries a pass which goes straight across the six yard box with no one on the end of it 

10 GOAL Sporting CP 1 Farense 0. That same pass that evaded everyone from Geny was chased down to almost the byline by Harder who carried the ball back in from the left wing and picked out Fresneda on the edge of the six yard box who adjusts his body to slot it home for his first ever Sporting goal. Typically unlike Wednesday I've not got him to score anytime. I'll not hold it against the youngster though. 

14 Free kick to the visitors. Sporting with a line of 7 defenders in a row. Definitely not man to man marking. First man heads clear. At least they defend set pieces far better than they take them 

16 Beautiful control from Trincão as he brings a ball down with snow on it. He tries from 20 yards but it's well wide of the right hand post

17 Menino effort blocked by the body of Hjulmand, it rebounds straight back to him but he can only skew it wide from 8 yards 

21 Harder once more causing issues for the Farense defence. They managed to clear the ball only as far as Quenda who with a wonderful cross field pass picked out Geny who's taken out in the box but the referee seems totally uninterested. He definitely takes the brunt of impact into his hip and is down receiving treatment. The fact the stretcher has been brought on for him confirms he's not playing acting. 

24 Simões receives his last instruction from the sidelines as Geny leaves the field. So again that's one back, one injured this time Quaresma and Geny the protagonists. Sporting cannot catch a break. 

25 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Farense 0. Having dismissed the penalty claim the corner was awarded on the far side. Incredibly Sporting actually score from it as Diomande takes revenge for his stricken colleague with an unmarked header from 8 yards into the bottom left hand corner. When they make it look that easy you wonder how hard can it really be?

27 I've just noticed that Trincão is now only Sporting a moustache. What's Portuguese for I'm here to fix your washing machine? He might have been like that against Bologna but was involved so little I never saw him close up

28 Hollywood tries from 25 yards plus and puts it straight behind the goal. Oh and what a surprise then does his hair straight after. That kid is stealing a living. 

31 Free kick to Farense, floated ball into the box is punched clear by Silva. Flag went for offside but that's one of the first times we've seen in over 200 minutes of football what he can actually do when called upon. He looked calm, reacted incredibly quickly and got rid of the danger without any fussy or worry

32 Harder smashes the ball into the side netting from the left of the six yard box. Two defenders closing in from the right and Velho was stood at the near post, there wasn't much the youngster could do with it there from that angle to be fair to him 

37 Trincão brings a diving save to Velhos left from 25 yards. Sporting have kept Simões and Hjulmand back in front of Inácio and Diomande but otherwise it's very much every other man combining in an attacking sense. Farense are holding on and half time cannot come soon enough 

40 Fast counter attack wasted as Bragança fails to control the ball and concedes possession. He's been awful again this half. Shame we don't have more for bodies because he wouldn't even be carrying the water bottles on current form

Additional time +3

45 Tomané shot inside the D blocked by the outstretched leg of Inácio and out for a corner on the far side 

+1 Africo heads in a cross from the left unmarked from 3 yards but the flag was quickly up on the near side for offside. Not sure what the delay is looks quite clear from the replay that the assistant got it right. 

+3 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Farense 1. Well I stand corrected. Presumably Diomande's arm was playing Africo onside. Didn't look like it from the replays but they took long enough to check it.

Half time 

Another incredibly comfortable 45 minutes for the league leaders and would have been a well deserved 2-0 lead if it wasn't for the goal in additional time which I'm not convinced was onside but never mind. The only downside... other than the goal obviously, was seeing Geny carried off on a stretcher mid way through the half. He looked like the boy who cried wolf midweek but this time there was no doubting he was in trouble when you saw the connection he took on his hip. There speaks an old man who suffers from hip issues. 

They've just shown the maths on Farense's goal suggesting he's 14 cms onside. I claim bullshit. 14 cms offside I could believe. I'm still not having that his arm isn't further forward than Diomande's from the reverse angle. Twice Trincão could have cleared the ball before the cross even came in. Disappointing all around really. Up until that point the visitors hadn't threatened at all. 

Another great half for Harder. It was his chasing down of the Geny pass that led to the opener. Great to see two defenders on the score sheet, something that was of great benefit en route to winning the title last season and something that's been lacking this. 

Genuinely there's nothing Sporting need to do in the second half other than more of the same and just make sure they stay switched on and try not to lose any more bodies. Farense seem more than capable of shooting themselves in the foot and giving the ball away in the final third. Sporting just need to ensure they take full advantage when it happens. 

Second half 

Sporting get us back underway. One change for the visitors 

45 Farense now defending in a 5-3-2 clearly believe they think they can hit Sporting on the counter attack and overload. They'd be better off trying to sort their defence in truth

47 Falcão concedes a free kick. Harder looked less than impressed as he ran towards him to confront him. I'm not sure I'd want to square off against the baby faced wardrobe 

49 Correct call this time as Baldé flagged offside. Still Silva was quickly off his line again and blocked the shot when one on one with the attacker. 

51 As Sporting start from the back Farense have five in the Sporting half and five in their own half. They've definitely been given licence to chase something from this game. 

52 Second substitution for the visitors as Rui Costa comes on as an attacker 

53 Neat footwork from Trincão sees him quickly past the first man but runs into too many bodies and dispossessed 

54 Harder now voicing his opinions to Africo. The referee just reminding him who the match official in charge is straight after. 

55 Cheap free kick conceded by Fresneda for a short pull. Games first yellow card shown. Rui Costa picked out on the far edge of the six yard box but his header back towards goal goes to safety 

56 Diomande with a little burst of pace sees himself clear of a defender but can't find the target from 18 yards from the edge of the right of the box and sends it pretty much straight instead into the stand behind 

57 All game Farense have taken their time in possession at the back running the clock down. Do they think they're winning? 

59 Corner to Sporting ends with a defensive clearance by Inácio out for a throw in and a run box to box for Hjulmand. Diomandes goal was a mirage. Well clearly it wasn't but it can feel that way when Sporting waste 98% of their corners. Did you know 38% of statistics are made up on the spot?

60 Quenda whips the ball across the six yard box and a diving Harder cannot make any connection though not through a lack of effort 

62 Rui Costa with a daisy cutter in slow motion executed with a little bunny hop at the end. Reminds me of when the kids were little. Anyways Silva collects easily 

63 Harder puts the ball through the legs of a defender to pick out an unmarked Trincão in the D whose curling effort towards the top left corner is plucked out of the air by Velho. 

64 Sporting with five players on the touchline none of whom actually seem to be going through any type of paces to warm up. There to get a better view of the action maybe 

65 Sporting need an attacking threat down the right. You wonder if they brought Reis on if that could push Araújo forward and move Quenda to the right 

66 Fucking keeper is time wasting again. Interesting he doesn't do it with goal kicks like traditional keepers, just stands there with the ball at his feet letting the seconds pass. Fair dues mate when you're losing 2-1 I get the logic… oh no wait maybe I don't. 

68 Harder shot from wide right blocked by the defender in front off his knee for a corner 

71 Araújo picks out Inácio unmarked and I was half way to next week. I thought that was in. Just maybe hit a bobble before it got to him and was higher than he expected as he knocks it inches wide of the left hand post from about 7 yards 

71 Trincão maybe a little too casual with his attempt. Clearly deflects off the defenders knee and no corner given. The defender knew it was he looks at Trincão to say don't ask me 

73 Trincão with his leg fully stretched backwards drags the ball forward and through the defenders legs in front him. Some of the individual touches of skill from him tonight have been a joy to watch 

75 Quenda does appear to have swapped wide right in the last five minutes which has given Sporting more attacking threat 

76 Reis on for Bragança who limps off. He took a slight knock about a minute ago. 

77 Quenda draws a save low to Velhos left from 12 yards. He's looked much brighter out on the right. Not just writing that because I said Sporting needed to do it 12 minutes ago either, they genuinely do. 

79 Sporting need a third… and they almost got it. Trincão found Harder in the D who turned and hit a shot on the swivel which went wide of the right hand post. 

80 The more Farense commit bodies forward the bigger the threat to conceding the third. It's like the lone wildebeest waiting to be torn apart my marauding lions 

82 Silva comes for the ball outside the box and instead takes out Inácio a bit like how Barca did against the neighbours the other day. That could have ended up far worse than it did. 

84 Huge cheer as Araújo makes a tackle. He was second in a foot race but didn't dive in, as the man slowed down to see what his options were he continues his run past him, turns and now with time and in front of the attacker executed the perfect tackle. 

85 No mistake this time from Silva who well out of his area chips the ball over the attacker nonchalantly 

86 Worryingly there's one more goal in this game you can almost sense it. My only hope is either a. I'm wrong or b. It's to Sporting…

87 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Farense 1. As I was just typing there's a goal coming as Harder diverts the ball in with his chest from six yards. May have taken a touch off the defender before it went in but that's sensational thinking from the youngster. Honestly to have the foresight that his only option from there was his chest and to get it goalwards and to score is nothing short of remarkable 

89 Trincão replaced by Debast and Araújo with Moreira 

Plus four shown 

90 ze Carlos knocks the ball over the bar from 20 yards 

93 Referee doesn't even let the last minute complete with the whistle blown second before. 

Full time 

Sporting CP 3 Farense 1 

The final word 

For Sporting a temporary nine point gap appears at the top of the table with the pigeons set to take on Estrela across the city in half an hour's time and Porto playing tomorrow night. For Farense you have to wonder whether their stay in the top flight will be over come May. They really did offer very, very little over the 90 and I remain convinced that their goal was not onside and it certainly wasn't 14 cms onside when you see the replays they showed. Anyways three more points and quite frankly that's all I care about and will keep my fingers crossed that Geny's hip has woken up and maybe mine will follow suit at some point this evening. 

The third goal may have come late on but that's not to suggest it was an even half. Sporting lacked a threat down the right hand side and looked all the better for Quenda being made to swap wings and from that point onwards it made Farense's task all the more harder to try and get something from the game. I'm still really, really bemused as to why Velho kept running down the clock in both halves with his side behind. Surely you'd equalise first and then try to do the same? I think that's the oddest tactic I've seen this season. 

All credit to Sporting from front to back. Yes you had the odd moment where they didn't always get it right, from Silva clattering Inácio to Fresneda having to concede a cheap free kick and get a yellow card but overall it was a pleasing performance. Hjulmand probably had his quietest game in quite some time which is always a good sign. I didn't think Simões had much to do either after he came on in the first half. Statistics will probably tell me I've been watching another game but regular readers will be aware of that fallacy by now. 

So no third clean sheet for Silva but one goal conceded in 270 minutes of football is hardly a crime. Excellent to see Fresneda score his first goal for the club especially given four weeks ago he was all set to exit. Just goes to show that you should always give your best for the club that currently pays your wages because you never know what can happen. I've been highly impressed with him in every game he's played this season and was super impressed with his first two appearances in the Taça's wide left. I've seen Esgaio try to fill in the same position and end up turning like a super tanker to try to get the ball back onto his right foot. It's not easy and yet he made it look that way. To be fair to not only just him - Geny and Quenda in turn have all looked better out there than Nuno Santos has done for quite some time and they're all right sided players. 

Good all around performance from Araújo, I was uber impressed with his tackle late in the second half, the intelligence not to dive in and to continue his run and turn when the attacker had slowed wasn't something you ever really see and certainly not from someone who's been converted into a left back. 

Trincão was a joy to watch for his movement and touch tonight even if there was no real end product and you are reminded de temps en temps just how talented a footballer he is and why he ended up at Barcelona and in the Premier League. Consistency will always be his downfall. I like how the moustache seems to be the in thing in Portugal with players on both sides sporting them tonight. Is there a Portuguese equivalent of Movember going on maybe?

Quenda looked dangerous from both flanks and continues to play well, the only thing that lets his game down still is his shooting. I was impressed with his crosses today. Not that he picked anyone out with the balls across the six yard box but that's where the ball is most effective and it's up to his teammates to have gotten themselves in the correct position to benefit from that type of ball. You imagine if Gyökeres or Gonçalves were fit that they'd both have benefited from that type of cross. Still that being said the opener and third did come from crosses met on the six yard line so at some point it's paid dividends albeit with assists from Harder and the substitute Reis. 

Harder’s two goals in two games with an additional assist is just reward for all the effort he's put in this past month. I'm still pissed at A Bola for knocking his performance against Rio Ave when he did everything but score. Yes the goal midweek hits one boot up onto the underside of his thigh and in but who cares when they go in. I said he needed one to go in off his bum and however it went in he deserved it. I've just gone to check and see whether the highlight of his goal today is up on YouTube but it's not yet because I still can't believe he's had the nous and audacity to chest it in from six yards and clearly meant it as well. If it wasn't for Harder I'd be having kittens knowing Gyökeres is going in the summer window. I appreciate he's not the finished article but my god this kid is going to have a huge future. He's like Kung Fu Panda. Just an absolute bulking menace but with the smile of a deadly assassin. The more he plays, the more he hones and fine tunes. He does look like he was cast in the same mould as Gyökeres and I see we've just signed a Norwegian youngster into the academy midweek who likens himself to Gyökeres. If he's got any of the qualities of our current Scandinavian contingent I look forward to seeing his name in a few seasons immensely. 

Man of the match… Down to a shortlist of Quenda, Araújo and Harder. If it was down to flicks and tricks and show ponying then stick Trincão down just for the entertainment purposes. All have their own merits but Harder gets it for the goal and the assist on top of a tireless performance.