Casa Pia 1 Sporting CP 3

The warm up

Sporting travel away for a derby to Casa Pia, albeit one being played outside of Lisboa with the Geese 'Os Gansos' currently playing at the Estádio de Rio Maior. Presumably because their own ground in Lisboa is the size of a garden shed. Does it still count as a derby? I'd say yes but it's not a hill I'd want to be buried on. 

I won't lie Casa Pia as a football club absolutely fascinates me because in England I can't think of a single side that you could compare them to. Casa Pia in Portugal is most famous for being a children's charity cum orphanage. Famous names to have come through their homes include ex Sporting players Nuno Mendes (yes that one that put Mo Salah in his pocket midweek) and Ricardo Quaresma as well as notable names in Portuguese football history such as Jorge Costa and Paulo Lopes. They currently fall under the stewardship of João Pereira - no not that John Pear Tree, the 33 year old one. Imagine that, 33 years old and coach of a Portuguese top flight club which by the way makes him the youngest top flight coach in Portugal since Andre Vilas-Boas when he was at Porto. Pereira is another Portuguese coach who didn't enjoy any sort of playing career so I imagine that will draw comparisons to a certain José Mourinho. He's done OK for himself over the years hasn't he, so if Pereira can have 10% of his success he'll have a good coaching career. 

Pereira is one of only four coaches who started the season in the top flight this season that still finds himself in the role. Ian Cathro from Mondays opponents Estoril another, Vasco Matos at Santa Clara and Tiago Margarido at Nacional completing the final four. Some clubs have had three coaches in the same period including yes, that João Pereira. Good job he's not still in charge of Sporting, that would just get confusing. Esgaio getting man of the match was perplexing enough on Monday night but more about that later. Portuguese people I've found have ridiculously long names but then they're all shortened so you're left thinking everyone is called João Pereira, Nuno Santos, Nuno Mendes, Pedro Mendes…you get the gist. Basically I've surmised it's the English version of John Smith or being able to walk into any pub in Britain and shout Dave and someone will inevitably turn around and go yeah!

33 years young though that's truly something remarkable isnt dear reader? Some of you reading this won't have even made the age of 33 and to you I politely say - you can fuck right off. To those of you over the age of 33, what were you doing at 33? I was in the full blown grip of alcoholism trying to drink myself to death. God those were the days. Fun times. 

Head to head Sporting have 100% win record after six meetings. Last season saw Sporting thump… and I do mean thump…the Geese 8-0. Do the Portuguese have an equivalent of the RSPCA? Did we get reported for cruelty to birds? Bloody well hope so. That was the game where Casa Pia refused to change their playing style despite getting pumped for 90 minutes. If you don't know how that feels ask Manchester United fans under Ruben Amorim. This season 25 shots only brought about a 2-0 win with goals from Hollywood and Gyökeres. 

Speaking of sixes, their last 6 games have finished as a WLWLWL. There will be someone reading sequence that superstitious enough to bet Casa Pia to win on the strength of that I'm telling you now. I'll take that bet. That someone bets it, not for the Geese to win. 

They currently lie a phenomenal 6th place for a club of their size and stature albeit 11 points off Braga in 4th. They've the 5th best home record winning 6, drawing 4 and losing just 2. GF 16 GA 10. Conceding less than a goal a game on average at home is some going. 

Away from home, 7th best record, 4 wins, 2 draws and 6 defeats. Those of you autistic like me will be thinking it's Christmas with all these patterns of numbers coming out so far in today's post. GF 14 GA 19.

Like last week's opponents they're outperforming their xG of 24.6 having scored 30 in total. I said that bubble will burst for Estoril at some point and I'm going to double down with Casa Pia at the business end of the season. 

The Geese have the 5th most fouls per game in the league averaging 15 a match. Come on people's be nice, all our lads are like paper mache this season. Top scorer is Cassiano the 35 year old Brazilian with 8 goals to his name. I make it this is his 17th club. The bloke likes a signing on bonus clearly. Either that or his agent does. Ex-Sporting academy player Nuno Moreira is the next top scorer and has five goals but to be fair he won't add to that total as he fucked off to Vasco de Gama mid season, one of six sales which also included Telascosegovia going to David Beckhams Inter Miami. The club have had 13 goal scorers this season but a bit like at Rio Ave with Clayton, if you stop Cassiano then you're really nullifying their main chance of getting anything from this contest. 

They've the most saves per game at 3.8 on average, 4th most conceded total penalties with 6. So they'll keep Gyökeres at bay until the point someone fouls him in the box and he makes it goal number 26. Remember you read it here first folks. I'm only kidding. Unless it happens of course…

Incoming faces during the winter window were like Sporting limited with two players coming in, Iyad Mohamed DM and Caue Vinicius ST. They join a player with a surname I'm sure will be familiar to many in the form of Ruben Kluivert, son of Dutch legend Patrick. 

Cândido de Oliveira, the man whose name now adorns the Supertaça C d O, is famously connected with Casa Pia. Having grown up in the Casa Pia orphanage, he went on to found what would latterly become the club we find in its current guise along with 17 other former orphans. He was Portugal's first ever captain as they lost 3-1 to next door neighbours Spain. Not merely content with sporting success he founded the A Bola newspaper in Portugal. Best of all though dear readers he was a spy for British intelligence during WWII. Yes that's right, you may need to read that twice. There you were all thinking Portugal were neutral in the second world war. How wrong you were, Lisbon was of course a hotbed for spies. When I write neutral, I do mean up until the point the US entered the war and offered them a fuck load of cash. But this isn't a war post. Oh let's not forget he was twice the coach of Sporting. 

In my minute by minute Monday night against Estoril I picked up on the fact quite early that Sporting were going to deliberately concede possession given the visitors penchant for playing on the counter attack. A tactic usually reserved for playing against Sporting though to be fair at the start of the season that was like a dream come true. The end statistics bore that theory out with Sportings possession 44% with just 266 passes. I'm sure we've seen that sort of statistic many times in Europe but we won't have seen it that many times over the last five seasons in the league and especially not with a pass percentage completion rate of 78%. Someone on twitter the other day was banging on about Gonçalo Inácio's pass completion rate under which someone had commented can he defend to which I replied no he fucking can't and at 47 years of age I could pass the ball sideways 50 times a game and have a percentage completion in the 90 plus percentile. His final figures Monday night - 58 passes at a completion rate or 79%. Jordan Holsgrove completed 89 passes for Estoril by comparison. Mind you he did have that shot which if you look out your bedroom window you might see somewhere in the night sky orbiting the earth. Regular readers will rightly point out how I bang on about possession statistics being pointless… and they are. They're just the percentage of completed passes for each team. Passing it around between your back three and goalkeeper 200 times a game means the sum total of fuck and all unless one of those passes happens to be from St Juste on the half way line banged back to Rui Silva and then you're left wishing it didn't mean the sum total of fuck and all. But Monday night it felt important. It was route one stuff - getting it launched in modern parlance. If Big Sam had Gyökeres instead of Andy Carroll up front he'd have been wanking himself silly to sleep every night. Estoril defenders still haven't had a decent night's kip since I'm telling you now. Who needs all this tippy tappy sideways bollocks when a decent pass for the Swede to run onto causes almighty chaos. I have to say I didn't mind it at all. The bits where they did play out were through Debast and he seemed hellbent with intent to take the piss. If it keeps us winning them I'm all for it. Needs must right now. Get the confidence into the youngsters especially, get some of the big guns back fit and raring and we'll all be wondering what all the fuss was for the four months in the middle part of the season. Start strong and finish strong and have a little fumble in the middle. 

I was quite impressed Monday night when the interviewer said to Gyökeres something along the lines of - how does it feel to have finally scored against Estoril so that you've now scored against every club in Portugal and I'm sat there smug going - well if you read my buildup you'd have been all over that one for days. I spend more time blowing my nose than my own trumpet so let me have that one. 

I genuinely have no concept of time which makes life somewhat strange at times. It's felt like months since we had a fully firing Gyökeres. Maybe it has been. I'd lost track of his goals and was genuinely surprised to learn he's only 4 off his final league tally of 29 last season with 10 rounds to play. 39 in all competitions which is 11 behind last season's total of 50 with 13 games potentially to still be played. You wouldn't put it past him to average a goal a game even if we didn't make it to the Taça de Portugal final to hit the 50 mark again providing he stays injury free between now and the summer. A century of goals in two seasons would be an outstanding achievement. In the words of one Kevin Keegan Esquire I'll love it if I get to write that in my thank you when he's sold in the summer. My god Viktor we're all going to miss you. They paved paradise, put up a parking lot. If you're under 33 Google it and stop looking so smug. He's so far scored in 15 games. 12 came in the first half, 13 in the second. Who said no shit at the back? 12 at home and yes…13 away. Symmetry in motion. 

Frequently I will remark that I feel like I've been watching a different game from everyone else so Monday night's win over Estoril should feel no different I guess. I voted on the clubs online poll for my man of the match which allows you in turn to view the updated results. When I looked the next day Ricardo Esgaio was leading on 38% and subsequently was given the award. Now regular readers know I do the minute by minute for every game and the only times I mentioned him were in the starting XI and when he played the ball out for a corner in the second half. I genuinely felt like I was being gaslit and it's fair to say that's not a nice feeling. I even checked with a club contact who told me in no uncertain terms that he had a great game. So I'm sorry Ricardo, I'll try pay more attention next time. Did anyone reading this notice he had a good game? Someone must have if he got man of the match you doughnut - oh yeah, my bad.

One last statistic - Sporting have used 38 players this season. So when you hear other clubs talk about injury crisis' feel free to tell them you don't know the meaning of the term. Be interesting to see if anyone can name all 38 without cheating. If a game coming soon gets boring midway through dear reader you'll recognise the signs… Kovačević, Israel, Silva…

In the markets 

Casa Pia 11/2

Draw 29/10

Sporting CP 1/2

Team News

Starting XI

Silva, Esgaio, Diomande, Inácio, Fresneda, Debast, Hjulmand, Reis, Trincão, Quenda and Gyökeres

Substitutes

Callai, Silva, Araújo, Arreíol, Felicíssimo, Morita, Geny, Biel and Harder

One change in the starting XI as the captain Hjulmand returns from injury with Felicíssimo the player to miss out. Araújo returns from suspension to be named amongst the substitutes. Morita returns from injury to take his place in the matchday squad once more. No room for Israel as Callai is named as the backup goalkeeper. Mendonça presumably involved in the B squad vs Varzim earlier today which finished 1-1.

First half

Sporting in white with green trim line up I'm a 3-4-3. 41 year old José Fonte captains the Geese. Casa Pia get us underway with Sporting attacking right to left.

1 Corner to the home side as Diomande heads a low cross from the right out of play

1 Diomande takes no chances for a second time as the home side win a second corner which again comes to nothing

2 Debast blasts high and wide from 24 yards. Gyökeres off to the races wide right causing chaos for the defence on Sporting's first attack

3 Silence descends as the referee makes his way to the touchline with the fans in the ground unsure as to why. Change of battery

4 Stoppage over, communications back online

4 Roberto with an ambitious shot from 25 yards straight at Silva who claims the ball comfortably

5 Inácio concedes a free kick and is shown the yellow card. His face is one of sheer surprise

8 Gyökeres now wide left finds Trincão whose goal bound shot from 5 yards is blocked by the defender

10 Fresneda wins a corner on the far side

11 GOAL Casa Pia 0 Sporting CP 1. The corner was played short in a 1-2 back to Quenda who whipped a ball into the area and from 8 yards Inácio scores his second in two games with a header that left Sequeira with no chance.

14 For all their possession in the opening third of the game the best chances had fallen to the Lions who now have their tails up and have pushed their defensive line up

14 Quenda scuffs a shot through the legs of a defender and wide of the left post from 10 yards. That really should have been 2-0.

16 If this was a home game you'd never know it as it's been the Sportinguista's who've made all the noise since the first whistle in a carnival atmosphere complete with drums

17 When in attack the Geese leaving a back 3 high up. Gyökeres in the centre facing off against Fonte. I'd not want to chase him as a 21 year old let alone as a 41 year old

20 Boos from the visiting fans as Debast brought down from behind for a free kick and no yellow shown. Casa Pia guilty of trying to pass their way out from the back and succumbed to Sporting's pressure which we're seeing more and more start to work under Borges’ men

23 The only complaint from the lions the lack of passing accuracy as twice in recent minutes Reis and Quenda have passed straight to the opposition as if forgetting they're playing all in white

25 Diomande and Inácio both looking like Dads playing against their kids. It's all too easy at the back for the young central defenders

26 Cross from the edge of the Sporting 18 yard box goes straight out for a throw in on the far side. The geese cannot get anything solid going

27 Gyökeres shot blocked for a corner from 16 yards. Yellow posthumously shown for a foul on the buildup on Trincão by Roberto

29 Gyökeres shoved in the back inside the area. Nothing given. You have to wonder what actually constitutes a penalty in modern football if you're clearly pushed off balance in the back

30 Fresneda shoots centrally from 20 yards straight at the keeper

33 GOAL Casa Pia 0 Sporting CP 2. Hjulmand with a long ball to Gyökeres who finally picks it up wide left 30 yards out having started his run six yards inside the half. Drove onto the box, hits it in between two defenders from 12 yards and under the keeper who really should have done better. 21/20 the Swede to score anytime which seems incredible given you'd not have got a price anywhere near that midway through the season

37 Replay of the goal shows Fonte was the man who had gotten back to try and mark Gyökeres. So when did you know it was time to finally retire José?

38 You imagine if you live close to the stadium you'd hope those in attendance fuck off back to Lisboa quickly. The drumming is incessant

39 Sportinguista's doing the Poznan behind Rui Silva. The stadium might not be in the Rio or Brazil but it's still carnival time

42 Shot from 19 yards curls high over the bar from Miguel Sousa.

44 GOAL Casa Pia 1 Sporting CP 2. Ball in from the right turned from 8 yards into the bottom left corner. That looked like it came off the back of the Casa Pia player who literally threw his body in front of Esgaio. I think actually that's going to be credited as an Esgaio own goal.

Plus three shown

Half time

Casa Pia 1 Sporting CP 2

No game is ever won at half time. We've seen far too many times in recent matches where things haven't gone to plan but as…as I'm getting a head start on my first half report writing away with the game still ongoing Sporting concede proving my point before I'd even written it. Fuck me.

Well up until Casa Pia actually getting a goal back they genuinely hadn't looked like scoring if the game had continued to be played until Christmas. It's not been a classic by any stretch of the imagination but Sporting even in first gear for much of the first half had been too much for the home side. The goal conceded was a freak. I still can't quite work out how it went in. Did it connect with the Casa Pia player and onto Esgaio and rebound in or does it come straight off him. Either way I started this blog by saying against Estoril I felt like I was gaslit when he was named man of the match. His brother scored yesterday in the 89th minute for a 1-0 win. We know who his parents favourite son is this weekend.

I touched on it briefly about the quality of passing or lack of it in an attacking sense. Debast and Quenda have both been equally as guilty. Perhaps the accumulation of minutes in recent weeks starting to catch-up. On the one hand I want to see the youngster play every game but there does come a point where a few games off the bench wouldn't hurt him.

Bit like Monday if we get a third goal it's goodnight Vienna. If we can get that early on it'll do my heart and bank balance the world of good.

Second half

Sporting kick us off. No changes from either side. Sporting back on time having been fined €2,000 Monday for a late entry back onto the field of play. Favourite trick of Borges

45 Hearts in mouth as the ball bobbles up before reaching Esgaio and goes out for a corner from a yard out off his shin. That was so close to being 2-2. That would have probably made him the geese’s 4th highest scorer for the campaign. 

47 Tchamba yellow for an arm into the face of Trincão 

49 There's me joking about Esgaio and I'm right he'd have been joint fourth highest scorer. 

50 If the goal had dented the spirits of the Sportinguista's you'd never know it. There's going to be an awful lot of people in Lisboa with sore voices tomorrow 

51 Sporting have Rui Silva to thank as he dives low to his left to stop a goal bound effort from 8 yards by José Fonte of all people up for a free kick. That's an incredible stop. Thankfully Fonte was at full stretch and it wasn't the best connection but even still...

54 Sporting hanging on a bit right now. Corner to the geese conceded by Esgaio. Rui Silva comes to punch clear and put for a throw on the far side 

55 Mixup between Reis and Hjulmand in the box concedes possession. A ball flashed across the six yard box thankfully misses everyone  

55 Yellow to Hjulmand who catches the top of the opponents foot 

56 Another shot fired straight at Silva from twenty yards by Brito. Sporting need that third 

57 Gyökeres turns with the ball and into the box, gets a shot away between the defenders legs from a tight angle on the right straight at the keeper 

58 Replay of Gyökeres leaving one in on Livolant. If he wasn't booked for that he should have been 

59 Rui Silva is down needing treatment. Callai warms up as a precaution. Replay shows he may have stretched part of his arm on the head of Esgaio when he punched clear. Thankfully he looks OK to continue 

61 Morita is on the sidelines. Diomande looks perplexed as he's shown a yellow card presumably for time wasting. 

62 Double substitution awaiting for Sporting. Geny looks like the other player readied to come on 

63 Hjulmand passes the armband to Inácio as he leaves for Morita. Geny swaps for Quenda who goes straight out on the left 

64 Late challenge by Reis. Again fortunate to escape a yellow. Not sure which game this referee is officiating. Shows a soft yellow to Diomande and ignores two Sporting challenges I'd have been pissed had the yellow not been shown for if I was the opposition

65 Shot from 23 yards which could well be on its way to Lisboa from Pablo it was that high

66 This is turning into a painful watch. Remember when I wrote I'd start trying to name all 38 players for Sporting if a match got boring, well I might start for therapeutic purposes to avoid watching the game 

69 Sporting attack comes to nothing owing to the sheer number of bodies in the box but at least the ball is in the right half 

70 Fresneda stretches to keep a pass from Trincão in. He started a move wide right and busts a lung to continue his run to provide an outlet for the return pass. Amazing to think he was so close to being out the door in January

73 Trincão takes a whack in the box and goes down. Referee not interested… is however told to go to the monitor. 

75 Referee makes the shape of a box. It's a film. One word. First word… penalty. 

75 Tchamba bows his head. From behind it looked clearcut but from the side I'm not so sure. Only he and Trincão know how much contact there was.

76 GOAL Casa Pia 1 Sporting CP 3. Gyökeres sends the keeper right as the ball goes bottom left. You'd have thought we'd won the Champions League the way I celebrated that. Gyökeres holds two fingers up to his neck. I was waiting for him to do a cut throat slash. Wisely he doesn't

78 Agonisingly close as Fresneda whipped a ball towards Gyökeres on the right and it just misses his toes by an inch or two

78 How have Sporting not made it 4. First of all a Gyökeres shot is cleared a yard off the line by Tchamba with the goal wide open and then Trincão heads wide. The Swede rounded the keeper way off his line on the edge of the area and his initial shot wide left was deflected up but still going travelling towards goal. The defender slid in to hook it clear. Trincão with the low header in the follow-up play just couldn't get any pace or purpose with his contact 

79 Morita skies his shot from the edge of the D

81 I said if we get a third it's game over and you have to believe that as the life has just drained out of the geese. Free kick on the right floated on finds the head of Diomande from six yards but out for a goal kick 

82 Fresneda stings the hands of the keeper with a shot from the narrowest of angles to the near post 

83 A seven minute period where the pendulum has swung fully for the Lions. The geese have been shell shocked. 

84 Casa Pia set for a triple change. Sporting are back three points clear at the top. The home side aren't coming back from this. Not today. Not to-fucking-day 

87 Harder and Felicissimo on for Trincão and Esgaio. 

88 Edu straight onto action in the centre wins a challenge to send Sporting on an attack 

88 Silva saves at his near post from a shot wide right almost level with the line. 

Plus five shown. 

90 Yellow shown to Brito for a pull back on Geny 

91 Those drums which were irritating the life out of me as we clung on are suddenly rhythmically very pleasing again. Yes I'm fickle 

92 Araújo conceded a throw far side which is news to me. When did he come on? 79th minute for Reis. Really?

92 Yellow shown to another Casa Pia player - Svensson. Not sure what for still trying to work out where Araújo had come from. Presumably that was straight after the third goal. 

94 Harder plays band leader and tells the fans behind the goal COME ON. They've not needed encouraging all night Conrad.

Full time 

Casa Pia 1 Sporting CP 3 

The final word 

Credit to the Geese for the second half because they didn't make it easy for Sporting but when you have a fully firing Gyökeres up front you're going to need to take whatever opportunities come your way and then stick 11 men behind the ball. Casa Pia were incredibly fortunate to have gone in at the break only a goal behind. Fortunate in respects it came off Esgaio, fortunate equally that Quenda didn't take his chance to have made it 2-0 before Gyökeres added the third. The capitulation by the home side was startling. It was like holding a full balloon by the end with it not tied up and letting go and just seeing the life fly out of it until it fully deflated. 

The English media have been full of talk all week about Gyökeres going in the summer as if it's a surprise to any Sportinguista worldwide. We've come to grips with that reality months ago. We have been aware this was the farewell tour from game one of the season so tell us what we don't know and that's his destination. Wherever he goes he will never have to buy a drink in the green and white half of Lisboa again that's for certain when he returns and he will because they all do. His two goals will no doubt see him presented with the official man of the match award but I'm not giving it to him. We'll come back to that later. 

Well done to Diomande and Inácio for not succumbing to a second yellow. If that sounds patronising it's not meant to be. That official was literally making things up as he went along. What I'd have given a yellow for he let go, minor infringements and his hand was straight in his pocket. He didn't have a good game and if you're a Casa Pia fan you'll be rightly as annoyed at some of Sporting's players not getting booked in the second half. Both defenders in the first half made it look incredibly easy and credit to the neighbours for making a game of it during the second half. It was, however, the right result. For all their possession (noting for the second game on the spin Sporting had less overall with 48% happy to sit back the majority of the second half and soak up the attacks) Casa Pia finished with an xG of 0.54. Rui Silva and Esgaio were both equally as unfortunate with the goal that was conceded on the stroke of half time. Rui Silva you imagine is going to prove every bit as important in the run in as a fit and firing Gyökeres is at the other end of the pitch. 

I'm trying to work out how long I celebrated that third goal for, that it caused me to miss Araújo coming on for Reis. To be fair to me I was a. Very excited. B. Incredibly relieved and c. Unless it's a Champions League game all I hear is the atmosphere with no commentary. Reis offered little as did Quenda on that left hand side. Geny still isn't fully match fit and Araújo was so good it took me what…13 minutes to notice he'd come on. I didn't think Esgaio was man of the match last week and clearly I'm not going to award it to him this one. You can see when Diomande collects the ball he's looking at everyone else before Esgaio as an option. I quite like Ricardo and I've always felt his treatment was unfair. None of us are perfect. Fans getting on his back isn't going to help any player. His mistakes get highlighted more than Inácios that's for certain and he's made an awful lot in his 200 plus appearances. In short though not his best performance but at least the own goal didn't cost us. I've still no idea how that actually goes in. 

Debast was off the boil tonight. Hjulmand did enough and it was good to see him and Morita back in first team action. Part of me wishes we'd seen neither and the club told Denmark and Japan they're both not fit to travel for the international break. We can only hope they're both spared. Same would be nice for Gyökeres with Sweden but I've more chance of marrying Kylie during the international break than that happening. 

Trincão I thought had little flashes during the game but another that looks like he's cooked. Kind of like a lightning storm rolling slowly through a valley. He has started to come deeper and drive forward which I do like to see. He of course plays his part in winning the penalty. I'm assuming that there was a connection on his shin which is why he exaggerated his fall inside the box. I'll assume it turn the reason the referee didn't give it is because of the exaggerated motion of the player. Catch 22 a la Joseph Heller. I think you could watch it 100 times, listen to Trincão and Tchamba tell their turn of events and still never really know. You needed a José Alvalade style spidercam over head but didn't have one. You wonder what Biel has to do to get any game time though. It's Koindredi all over again. I think this time last season I'd already predicted he'd be out the door again in the summer. I'm going to say the same with Biel in the here and now. Almost a cursed position unless your name is Nuno Santos. I mean yes he's injured so cursed in one way but not in the revolving door way.

Look Gyökeres is the obvious choice for man of the match but as I say he wasn't mine. I'm going to go with Fresneda wide right. I thought he put in a tireless performance, was there providing an outlet for link up play in an attacking sense, tracking back and defending. They don't give you the kilometres covered but I'd be surprised if his final figures weren't right up there for the most run in Sporting colours. 

So one more game before the international break as we welcome Famalicão looking to make it four straight wins in all competitions. If you can get Gyökeres at anytime goalscorer for 21/20 next week I'd be amazed. I'm still amazed I got the price before kick off tonight frankly. All hopes are pinned to the Swede between now and the end of Maio but if you're going to pin them on anyone, might as well be on him let's be honest. The kids quite good isn't he?!?!