Sporting CP 3 G.D. Estoril Praia 1

The warm up

Monday night football returns as Sporting play host to *Estoril the Cascais based club who can lay claim to being one of the only Portuguese clubs that to date Viktor Gyökeres has played against and not scored. I'd work out if there were more but quite frankly I can't be arsed. I wouldn't have thought there are many more though dear readers if any at all if that's scant consolation. If anyone does know feel free to comment below. 

One of the problems I find with Portuguese football is that all too frequently it's hard to not sound condescending when talking about smaller clubs so I'll just apologise in advance. Sorry. Anyone generally familiar with Portuguese top flight football will know that the top four picks itself, it's just the order that changes. With that in mind with Estoril sat 7th in the league they can claim to currently being the 3rd best of the rest. See I said it sounds condescending but it's not meant that way, they're having a fabulous season by all accounts. Estoril have the 8th best away record after 11 games; 3 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses scoring 15 and conceding 20. Their current form is impressive as they come into Monday's game eight unbeaten recording 6 wins and 2 draws which, let's be fair, is a better record than Rui Borges' men over the same period even if the quality of opposition may not have been as high. Still you can only beat the team in front of you and the most impressive win in that period was the 3-2 away to Santa Clara. Their record against the current top four is vastly different, especially on their travels; a 4-0 thumping away to Porto, 3-0 away to the dirty pigeons but they did at least take a point 2-2 away at Braga. Their corresponding game against the Lions at home finished in a 3-0 loss with goals coming from Geny, Morita and Braganca. 

In the previous seven head to head games from September 2021 onwards Sporting have seven wins with an aggregate score of 17-1. Last season at home Sporting ran out 5-1 victors with a brace from Marcus Edwards back in the days he could be arsed to put in a performance. Paulinho scored the winner in a 1-0 away win and I won't lie I'd already completely forgotten all about him. I called bullshit on the faux outpouring of emotion from certain fractions when he left in the summer for Mexico and the fact that I can say that I'd truly forgotten about him validates fully that opinion for me anyways. Now you're just somebody that I used to know. Thank you Gotye.

Estoril are currently coached by the Scot Ian Cathro. He was the tender age of 22 when he began upon that career path with Dundee United where amongst his charges was the former Sporting midfielder Ryan Gauld. His current spell with Estoril isn't his first dance in Portuguese football however having been the assistant coach at Rio Ave in 2012. His first job at the helm came with another Scottish club in the form of Hearts in 2016 but a win rate of 26.67% during his tenure unsurprisingly resulted in his dismissal. The interim years were spent back as an assistant coach as he learned his trade under the Jedi master that is Nuno Espírito Santo and yes that is really what he gets called in the English media. Well some elements of it at least. Cathro comes into this game having been voted the coach of the month for February 2025 in Portugal which in English football was always the kiss of death before the next game which would as a general rule of thumb see your club lose. Here's hoping! His current win percentage at Estoril is 37.5% so a shade over 1 in 3.

Cathro became the first non Portuguese coach to take charge of Estoril since the Spaniard Pedro Carmona between December 2016 and March 2017. In between them were 12 Portuguese coaches in a little over 7 years as they struggled to find the right man to fit the bill. As you'd imagine like most Portuguese clubs their managers have tended to be homegrown but Daúto Faquirá the Mozambique coach had a brief spell as coach between July 2005 and January 2006. Mário Wilson was another from Mozambique who took charge twice; Present between 1983-84 he was briefly replaced by António Medeiros and then reinstated until 1986. The ex Sporting player reportedly scored 37 times in 36 appearances between 1949 and 1951. That's a hell of a ratio. I'll caveat that statement by pointing out that it came from Wikipedia, the font of all made up knowledge so don't quote me on it. 

Cathro isn't the first from the British Isles to have coached Estoril. Between 1973 and 1975 and again 1981 to 1982 an Englishman Jimmy Hagan was calling the shots. He would also manage Sporting in between during the 1976-77 season. Sadly for the green and white half of Lisboa, Hagan is best remembered in Portugal for leading the dirty pigeons to three successive league titles between 1970 and 1973, a feat no coach has repeated or surpassed since over the road so small mercies if nothing else. Random useless facts I know but everyday is a school day as they say and some of you reading may have learned something even if it was trivial about our opponents history. 

Estoril have had 12 goalscorers this season but the bulk have come through three players with 18 combined; Alejandro Marques 7, Yanis Begraoui 6 and João Carvalho 5. At the back they've conceded 35 but xG numbers would suggest they've led a charmed life as they've the highest xG conceded in the league at 41.9 so at some point that's going to start to bite them you'd imagine. They lead the table for the most interceptions per match at 10.3 so Sporting will need to be wary of possible counterattacks. They rank 16th for successful tackles per match with 9.1 - instead it appears preferring to just take a lump out of their opponent with 15.9 fouls per match, second only to Santa Clara who average 16 per match. This has resulted in a whopping 62 yellow cards, the league's 5th highest total although unlike Sporting they're yet to be shown a single red. Our injury record is bad enough as it is. I vaguely remember Sporting having to scoop up parts of Gyökeres in the away game last season and that with his knee already being held together by gaffer tape and despite the brutal attention the referee just shrugged his shoulders and went meh much to the disgust of the Sporting contingent. 

Joel Robles of ex-Leeds United fame is still the main man in between the sticks and he's kept five clean sheets in 22 starts and also has a penalty save to his name so far this season. Eliaquim Mangala is a name which might also be familiar to those in England reading this having played for Manchester City and a brief six month loan spell at Everton. Gonçalo Costa came through the Sporting academy system but went no higher than the B team before arriving at Estoril via Portimonense. João Carvalho is a great example of a player under a multi club system bouncing in-between Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos under the ownership of Evangelos Marinakis before finally ending up with Estoril following a previous loan spell between August 2022 and June 2023. 

Nicknamed the Canarinhos (Canaries) I'm not aware of any links with Norwich City but maybe someone should suggest it to them. Most towns and cities are linked with sister places around the world so why not clubs? I'm sure many from Norwich would like to visit Cascais. Not so sure many from Cascais would want to visit the carrot munching county of Norfolk but you never know. Perhaps they have a keen interest in tractors and Colmans Mustard. 

They're owned by David Blitzer, chairman of private equity firm Blackstone’s tactical opportunities division. There's a mouthful for a job title. His investments saw him become the first person to own team equity in the five major sports leagues of North America. He has a limited stake in the NFL side Washington Commanders which one assumes to be the most high profile name of his investments, the New Jersey Devils in the NHL, the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA and Cleveland Guardians in MLB - no me neither. I've heard of Estoril though if that counts? I'm assuming most sports fans in the US wouldn't have though, so touché.

No game for the dirty pigeons this weekend meaning a win for the lions will take them temporarily three points clear at the top of the table. I'm assuming the neighbours would have been due to play Gil Vicente this weekend although again don't quote me on that. They instead host Barcelona on Wednesday night which will be their second meeting this season following the 5-4 win for the Catalans with two goals from Raphinha. What? Well you might have been living under a rock. That wasn't a cheap dig, get your minds out of the gutter. 

I was wondering this week just how much the media influences fans and their opinions? If so is it as bad in Portugal as it is in England in some quarters? Speaking to a friend of mine after the Gil Vicente win they were personally incensed by the standard of refereeing and failure to award Sporting a penalty, whereas I thought the referee had a good game although admittedly the fact he booked Harder in the 7th minute had escaped me and I thought the sending off was a straight red rather than a second yellow. Otherwise I didn't have any complaints. I don't have a Portuguese equivalent of Match of the Day I can watch and to be fair whilst I'm sure one exists, other than the word gol or golazzo I wouldn't understand a fucking word even if I did. Therefore whatever I write here within these posts isn't unduly influenced by the opinions of others, I call it as I see it. It's merely my opinion and I'm happy for people to tell me I'm wrong because I'm old enough to know I'm wrong a lot of the time. I don't edit these posts after trying to make myself appear clever. The mistakes, especially during a boring 90 minutes are usually the best thing about the posts. I digress roughly back to the previous point, namely that to me there is no conspiracy in the officiating and that opinion may just be due in part because I'm not watching other games in the league. Sure I'll watch the goals from other games on YouTube but I'm not pouring over replays of decisions given or ignored in other games and comparing those decisions made against Sporting players. I'm sure some of the referees in Portugal are merely egotistical pricks and quite happy to steal the narrative, it doesn't mean they're out to get Sporting. If I was the man in the middle and I'd got someone earning substantially more than me per annum screaming obscenities at me I might think bollocks to you and flash a card their way. Same if I had 40,000 people in the stands telling my that I'm the bastard son of a whore mother, I might think fuck you all the next 50/50 decision is going against you. I'm not saying referees do, but upon retirement if one wrote a book and admitted to it I wouldn't be incensed. So I wonder without the external voices is this why I often feel like I've been watching a different game to other people? I had the West Ham game on in the background Thursday night and Robbie Savage made the same point about a dozen times. I don't remember what it was cause I can't stand the Welsh twat but maybe it's no surprise if you hear the same thing over… and over … and over that some start to believe it. I think there's a term for it - propaganda. Maybe it's just my age, maybe I've mellowed during the years? I'm sure 20 year old me would have been incensed by certain calls and I guess I still am. The Edwards sending off on Galeno against Porto fucking rankles me. So I'm not perfect. I'd love to know fans' reactions if they watched the game on mute and then didn't read, watch or listen to anything after and just called it for what it was, would some of you still feel the world and his wife was against you or would you shrug and go worst things happen at sea?

I'm surprised no one in Portugal seems to have made more of Rui Borges’ comments about Kauã Oliveira following his debut Thursday in which he's reportedly quoted as having said “Maybe six months ago he was in the favela. I don't even know if he's from the favela or not.” A Bola suggested the comment was interesting. I'd suggested in this country that's as close to the bone as you'd get and he'd have been rightly called out for it suggesting that because he's from Brazil he'd have grown up in the slums. Leaves a sour taste in my mouth that's for certain. Given he's on loan and like any youngster with a massive opportunity to progress his career he's probably had to bite his tongue which isn't right in 2025. We should be doing better in this day and age! 

With Sporting's ongoing injury issues I'll skip the part about who is out on that front but one definite absence will be Araújo suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards. Typical now we've finally gotten to the point of one game a week where players can finally rest properly in-between games they're going to need it during the run in. I feel that way just watching and reporting. Let's hope for a better March than we had in January and February. 

* I might have gotten very bored Sunday lunchtime sat in the sunshine and worked it out with pen and paper that Gyökeres has scored against every Portuguese club he's played against in one of the three competitions other than Estoril. With any joy he'll correct that anomaly a few times Monday night and make up for lost time.

Team News

Starting XI

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

Substitutes

Israel, Silva, Geny, Oliveira, Arreíol, Mendonça, Moreira, Harder and Biel

With a predicted 3-4-2-1 Brito (injured), Araújo (suspended) and Harder (benched) the three players missing from the side who started in the Taça. In come Diomande into the centre of the back three, a full league debut for Felicissimo and the talismanic Gyökeres looking to finally break his goal scoring cherry against Estoril.

Rui Borges made it clear to the press that Gyökeres is once more 100% fit and let's be honest if we're to get anything from this season much will depend on him finding a rich vein of scoring form. I imagine tonight's team talk prior to kick off will be to Viktor - you score me the goals son and Rui - you keep ‘em out the other end. The rest of you don't fucking get sent off or give away any fucking penalties. Football as they say is a simple game.

I have long said that I thought Trincão could play in central midfield so when they mentioned this afternoon in the press that there was an obvious choice to fill into the midfield with so many injuries my name went straight to his. It didn't go to Ricardo Esgaio. You never know, maybe one day Trincão will be able to prove my theory right. In the end Borges thinking wasn't Esgaio either but the youngster Felicissimo who will be given the opportunity to make up for his mistake which led to the AVS equaliser having come on as a sub to try help protect a one goal lead when down to ten men. I previously suggested that Debast could do a job in midfield during 2024 and they actually did that. Not because I wrote it of course. Well I don't think so anyway. Sporting's main attacking problem is that their best option on the flanks is Gyökeres whilst he's also the best option for the player you'd want on the end of the pass and can't be in two places at once. So why not play Trincão through the middle? He can judge a weight of pass and could probably put a better through ball for Gyökeres to run through onto than most and then let Debast be the defensive cover. You've an abundance of options wide left and wide right even with all the injuries and taking Trincão out of the space wide right would allow Geny more freedom to operate in. What was the point in signing Biel. It's not like he didn't arrive match fit. It's like Koinderdi all over again in the last winter window. I did note that the ex-Sporting mister Silas has refused to play Alisson Santos since his move fell down in the January window. I always said Silas was fucking clueless and nothing will sway me from that opinion.

First Half

If Gyökeres was a kid in the playground with a Panini sticker book all he needs is one goal to complete the set. Anyone who's ever collected stickers will know what it's like to have a pile of swaps so if the Swede can get the monkey off his back let's hope he's bemoaning that he's got to find space for another matchball. Surely there can't be more misfortune to beset Sporting, at some point our fortunes have to change for the better so no time like the present. The last time the referee Hélder Carvalho took charge of Sporting was during the 8-0 Casa Pia win. Yes I am looking for good omens.

Sporting in black with white and green horizontal stripes will attack right to left. Estoril get us underway.

1 Long ball from Inácio finds Gyökeres off to the races. He tries to cut it back for Trincão but it's cut out by a defender.

2 Side image of Cathro looking like he's sporting the most Scottish beard you'll find in all of Portugal

3 No playing out from the back for Sporting as Silva kicks to the halfway line. Presumably they're looking to alleviate the press on their defence.

4 GOAL Free kick inside the Estoril half put into the centre by Debast and finds the head of Inácio who makes Sporting CP 1 Estoril 0 with a bullet which flies past Robles. I've previously criticised both his heading and Debast’s shooting and both over the course of two games have said - eat your words. Gladly. Nom nom nom.

7 The fans reminding any neutrals watching on TV at home who the champions of Portugal are. Great start for the lions. It's the finish to games we've not perfected of late. Diomande went from hero to villain against AVS so hopefully Inácio doesn't follow suit.

9 Silva goes long with his kick again into the centre. It's clearly a ploy. Estoril have really low possession percentage on average this season so presumably their normal game plan is counter attack so Sporting are doing reverse psychology and happy to give them the ball presumably thinking they'll do little with it

11 Corner to the visitors near side. Played short and Carvalho is caught a yard offside as he tries to play a 1-2 with the corner taker. So far the game plan is working offensively and defensively

13 Seven men back defending for Estoril with only 3 Sporting players forward. Fresneda threw from touch to Gyökeres wide right and then made a gut busting run into the box but the Swede couldn't pick him out in a sea of yellow shirts maybe unsurprisingly

14 Reis turns his marker back onto his right foot and tries to pick out Trincão with a delightful floated ball to the far post. The defender in front just gets a flick with his head and it goes over Trincão and out for a corner. That was a beautiful ball in from the Brazilian

17 Debast with the most nonchalant no-look lob between two players in midfield with the outside of his boot. I believe the technical term for that is taking the fucking piss

17 Trincão strikes first time from 18 yards and some of the fans thought it had hit the net because the excitement levels and noise rose but it went wide of the right post

19 Corner nearside finds Diomande 8 yards out. Powerful header but couldn't keep it down

20 Rui Borges does appear to be more technically adept than Amorim ever was as a coach. So far the team are executing the plan perfectly. The fans are doing their part from the stands

21 Gyökeres off and flying centrally this time with two defenders desperately trying to get back weighted down by the shit that just appeared in their shorts. Robles gets a leg to stop the shot from 8 yards out on the left

22 Trincão fails to make it 2-0. First touch didn't help and he ended up sending the ball into about row L from 16 yards. He really should have done better there

25 Reis clears a ball across the six yard box out for a corner. Probably wasn't as dangerous as he might have thought but sometimes better not to take any chances. The visitors still to register a single attempt with an xG of 0.00

27 Gyökeres decides to go it alone and ignore Fresneda to his left. Once more cutting in from the right he faints to make the space to shoot between two defenders but the effort is over the bar from 8 yards on a tight angle

28 Reis again wise to any attacking threat inside the Sporting box puts the ball out for another corner

29 Another poor corner went straight to Quenda who wrapped his foot around it. Gyökeres who had been in the six yard box made the run from box to box to get on the end of a weighted pass but his effort was saved by Robles again from 9 yards. Trincão with a follow up effort brings a strange clearance from Robles which could have gone anywhere

32 Felicissimo shown the yellow for a pull back on the shirt. Loud whistles for the referee. That followed fouls on Gyökeres and Trincão both left unpunished. The foul on the latter was a carbon copy of the booking that led to Diomande getting sent off against AVS. All we ask for is consistency.

32 First attempt for Estoril well wide of the far post from a narrow angle wide right from Guitane

35 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Estoril 0. The Swede pops his cherry. Picked up the ball 12 yards inside the Estoril half. Takes it into the box on the left hand side, two defenders in front he cuts to the right to then slam the ball home. He strolls over to the side of the goal. Conserves his energy as finally the Bane celebration comes out more as an afterthought

36 Pina fails to connect properly from 8 yards and the ball thankfully rolls harmlessly to Silva

37 Borges goes wild with rage on the touchline as Gyökeres hauled down in midfield and no yellow shown

38 Gyökeres is down in the box and Reis is down in midfield. The Swede took a knock to the calf in the penalty area and is struggling as he limps around the field.

40 All cameras fixed on the Swede who has been electric up front tonight.

41 Gyökeres looks done. This isn't good news. Mind you Harder is sat on the bench unmoved.

42 Estoril player deliberately kicks the ball away post award of a free kick to Sporting. Again a yellow card offence but nothing given.

44 Gyökeres seems to be moving a bit freer now than he did two minutes ago. I'd still have Harder out warming up at half time as a precaution

44 Deflected cross off the boot of Reis goes towards Silva's near post and is probably their best chance of the half ironically

Plus one shown

+1 Carvalho cuts inside to get a shot away from 10 yards but was leaning back when he took it and always rising

Half time

Sporting CP 2 Estoril 0

Perfectly executed half from Rui Borges men. The only worry the knock that Gyökeres took towards the end of the half which thankfully he seemed to have walked off by the time he left the pitch. He has been back to his imperious best tonight and their defence hasn't been able to handle him.

For four and a bit seasons under Amorim we saw the patient play out from the back, the accumulation of passes between the back three. Tonight it has been route one and it's been effective. You envisage Cathro came with a game plan expecting Sporting to have the bulk of possession and try play the ball out to the wings. It's been anything but that. Borges appears to be a wiley tactitioner and whilst it might be a case of needs must we care little.

I started this post by wondering what it's like to have all the noise about officiating that you'd get in Portugal and whether it effects your judgment when watching subsequent games. I fear that I've been sucked into the black hole. If you're booking Edu for the shirt pull then you've got to do the same for pulling Gyökeres to the ground. The late boot on Trincão was identikit to Diomande's second yellow against AVS. I'm not suggesting for a moment there is a conspiracy but there's no consistency and that's all you ask for.

Defensively Sporting have pretty much looked solid from the first whistle. Reis the wise old sage just booting the ball out for a corner with faith that they don't pose a threat and it proved to me correct when Sporting could and probably should have scored from an Estoril corner. They'll have to switch it up second half, try find some assemblance of change if they're to get anything from this game. We need one more goal to kill the game dead. So far so good.

Second Half

The home fans make their feelings known as the officials first back onto the pitch are whistled on. Harder is going through his warm up which you'd guess means the end of Gyökeres night. He definitely took the full force of the defender's hip onto his calf as the two fell. Let's hope it's a precaution which doesn't keep him out long term… we'll bugger me the Swede takes his place on the side for the warm up routine. When I say I keep everything in and don't edit it to make myself look clever there you go, proof if it was ever needed.

Sporting get us back underway. No changes from either side.

45 Early attack down the left for Estoril shepherded out for a goal kick by Esgaio

46 Cathro crouches a la Amorim stroking his ginger beard. Doesn't quite have the same look

48 Debast plays a clever ball forward which allows Gyökeres to use his weight to push his marker off balance and collect the long pass. His dribble into the box ends with a blocked shot from 16 yards. How Estoril must wish he had gone off at half time.

49 Debast goes on a mazy, jinking run in midfield. The Belgian is brimming with confidence right now and really enjoying life as a midfielder

49 Yellow to Estoril for Xeka for an appalling late challenge on Edu with studs into the top of the youngsters foot

52 Sporting go short from the goal kick this half

52 Gyökeres causing problems down the right again. He really is the real fucking deal in every area of the pitch. You can't tell me there's a better buy in Portugal in the last decade. He nutmegs his marker and went to the races. Can you imagine Das Bost up front with Gyökeres both in their prime? It would almost be a criminal offence

56 Geny being hurried on the bench as Reis receives treatment on it.

57 Warm applause for the Brazilian as he exits on the far side to be replaced by Geny. Reis looks confused as if he was expecting to come back on. He's had his best game in a Sporting shirt for a while.

59 Fresneda caught offside wide left. Not sure if that was a switch of sides or just how the overload ended up

61 Fresneda is still out wide left

61 Gyökeres again causing the defence nightmares. He'll be living in their heads rent free. Corner Sporting.

62 POST Ball fell to Debast whose shot with the instep from 18 yards deflected off a defender and onto the left post and to safety. It's hard to pick a man of the match between him and Gyökeres they've both been outstanding tonight. That came from the corner into the centre which Robles punched clear straight to the Belgian who with confidence clearly brimming hit it first time

65 Two Estoril players down receiving treatment. Not sure if it's for twisted blood from Gyökeres or a coming together. They're deliberately not showing the action or the replay for now.

67 Warm applause from the Sporting fans as both players back to their feet.

68 Fumble from Silva with a long ball to the back post but for once fortune is smiling upon Sporting as he quickly regained possession. Perhaps tonight will be our night

69 Inácio struggling with a knock. Whistles from the home fans and you can see why. He was taken out in the follow through as he went to clear the ball.

70 Another stop in play Pina looks to be suffering following that collision with his team mate five minutes ago. His night is now over as he's helped off by the medical staff far side

71 Long ball into the area is dealt with a last minute header from Diomande to just take it away from the forward. Little bit of squeaky bum time there but not to worry the big man had it covered.

72 26 yard volley from Jordan Holsgrove which he won't want to see again anytime soon. To be fair he might not see the ball again anytime soon, that's probably on its way into the stratosphere and will still be in orbit when he retires

75 For the first time tonight the crowd a little subdued. Estoril whip a ball into the six yard box and Esgaio takes over where Reis left off in the first half and sends it out for a corner

76 Gyökeres you imagine could easily play in the NFL. He picks the ball up outside the Sporting box and takes it all the way down to about the 30 yard line.

77 Harder ready to come on

78 Quenda the first man withdrawn, Felicissimo and Trincão the last. Arreíol, José Silva for his debut with the aforementioned Harder the third

80 Thunder claps from the home fans as they try boost the players for the final ten.

81 As an attacking force Sporting have offered little this half. Estoril however have offered little all game. Recent games make you feel we just need one more. We shouldn't really. It would be nice though

82 Half chance for Sporting blocked from 16 yards from an Arreíol volley into the floor which hit the hand of the defender. No penalty. No penalty as Geny taken down in the follow up move inside the area either

83 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Estoril 1. From the narrowest of angles Gonçalo Costa slots it past Silva at the near post. To be fair to the ex Sporting youngster he doesn't celebrate the goal. What was I saying two minutes ago? Fucking hell. Sporting wanted a penalty and in the melee get caught out down the other end

87 The fans are doing their best to lift the players over the finishing line. Gyökeres with a shove to the back goes down. Sporting taking their time

87 Sporting win a throw in on the left of their own half. More seconds wasted but they lose possession again. I can barely watch

88 Debast flattened with an elbow to the back. Nothing given.

90 Sporting hanging on now.

Plus six shown

90 How have Sporting not made it 3-1?Gyökeres from the half way line took the ball into the box. One on one with Robles he goes to go round him. Gets a shot away which Robles gets back to save at the near post. Sporting appeal for a penalty as the defender made contact sending the Swede off balance

91 Referee is being sent to the monitor. It's handball. Missed that part in all the fun and games. Now they'll be saying did Gyökeres foul the defender...

93 Whistles are ringing out as they freeze frame the ball on the hand

93 Penalty awarded. If I knew Portuguese I'd tell you which infringement it was for.

94 Sending off. Estoril down to ten men.

95 PENALTY. Robles hangs off the bar presumably trying to put off the Swede. Won't work will it. Bang! Gyökeres with his sticker book swap. Sporting CP 3 Estoril 1. Robles would have gone into the net with the ball had he got a hand to that. He went the right way but the ball went two thirds up to the left of the net.

96 Geny is down after an accidental elbow from Costa to the chin.

98 Literally no idea how long is left in this game. Silva falls onto the ball. More seconds wasted.

99 Corner Sporting. Carvalho it was sent off.

100 Play acting from Geny. He's been watching too much Porto in his time off

100’33 final whistle goes.

Full time

Sporting CP 3 Estoril 1

The final word

Never in doubt was it. *Pushes tongue in cheek. I mean to be fair it wasn't until the 83rd minute when they got one back. Who knew a 3-1 win over Estoril could bring me such joy? It might also have been pure relief as I did the classic clenched fists down by the side gesticulating celebration. Fucking get in. The problem with recency bias is it acts like the Mandela effect and can have you believing things that simply weren't true. In 83 minutes of play Estoril were never at the races. The scoreline and statistics proof of a deserved win. If that was in a boxing ring one man got battered with well timed punches and attacks, somehow they landed one blow which dazed the other and you thought not a-fucking-gain and then the heavyweight delivered the decisive blow. Sporting thoroughly deserved that victory even if it reads like I'm trying to desperately convince you the reader and myself of that very fact.

With better finishing from Trincão in the first half Sporting would have been out of sight. Yes they didn't carry as much of a threat in the second half but this side has been out through the ringer in recent months with the injuries and the total number of games played in all competitions. Of course they were going to take their foot off the gas it's only natural. You've a third midfielder drafted in from the B side. I said before the window opened we needed an extra man brought in. Then was so impressed with Simões that I thought no they don't actually. Then his season is finished. Brito his replacement then gets injured and your down to Felicissimo and he gets a stamp to the foot and you're just wincing. He was probably playing on pure adrenaline and didn't feel it with it being his full debut. He'll feel it tomorrow though that's for certain, that looked a really poor challenge in slow motion.

Let's credit Costa for his finish and for not celebrating the goal. When he looks at the players now getting their chance at Sporting he must be thinking if only. You wish the lad well in the future. Other than that and actually even then, Estoril never looked like scoring. It was a goal from an impossibly tight angle. Rarely do those shots ever go in.

Be honest if you were watching the game there was that awful feeling of here we go again. I started off by saying our fortunes had to turn and how much our chances would fall onto the shoulders of Gyökeres. The impact he took before half time was big. The majority of players in his position would not have come back out for the second half. The guy is a Panzer tank. He just kept on rolling on relentlessly throughout for all but the four minutes before the half time whistle blew. I can remember someone claiming to be a scout on twitter writing last season he's overrated. What a fucking mug that bloke was. I've run out of superlatives for him. He really will be living in the heads of all their defenders rent free because he bullied all of them and most of their midfield too. Maybe some of their forwards as well when he was back defending corners in the six yard box. His pace, his strength to push men off the ball. He never gave up. Don't tell me he doesn't want to leave in the summer without a second league title winners medal around his neck. He's going to leave it all out on the pitch between now and May and his teammates have to match that level. They can have zero excuse for not doing the same. That's the gold standard of expectations laid down as a marker.

On any over given day Debast would have been a shoe in for man of the match. He was a joy to watch at times. The little darting runs, the no look passes. The kids would call him a baller. As an old man I'd say he just took the piss. It was a joy to watch. That's why you pay your money to go see players like him close up because you simply cannot fully appreciate it on a tiny screen watching on. I tried though. If I was a Roman Emperor he got the thumb up.

No clean sheet for Silva but he did everything you'd expect from a keeper for that shot. Nine times out of ten that doesn't go in. He fumbled one cross. You're not complaining against that performance from your keeper. Diomande was equal to everything and he kept his head. Reis and Esgaio were like the sensible dads at a party whipping away cans of lager from teenagers hands and throwing them out of reach. Not on my watch son. It might be 1990s football, wrapping your foot around a ball and getting it launched but needs must. Amorim had his time, it brought success but he'd have still had us trying to play out from the back tonight for 90 minutes. We've seen how sticking to his rigid principles and philosophies are getting on in Manchester. So credit goes to Rui Borges tonight. That may have been forged in Vitória and executed in the Alvalade but he took Cathro to the cleaners tactics wise. The Scot could only watch on scratching his forehead and stroking his ginger beard. He had no response.

Quenda looks like he needs a rest. Trincão too albeit the latter could still have had a brace of his own with better finishing. Geny needs to cut the play acting out of his game that has crept into his game. Mind you can you blame him when he gets a challenge that puts him out for a month that's not punished with a red card at the time? That seems incredible a player can be taken off on a stretcher and yet the player who did it carries on.

I can only apologise for not knowing Portuguese. I've no idea what Carvalho was sent off for in the end. When I find out I'll add the note for context.

I enjoyed that. It might have also come with huge relief. Three points clear again. Would you want to be the one chasing or the one laying down the marker? Which has more pressure? Is it all going to come down to the derby at the end of the season? Am I getting too far ahead of myself? Have I forgotten to name my man of the match? Will I ever stop asking stupid questions and get to the point? Who knows? Gyökeres is my man of the match. I'd give it to him and Debast if I could but like Highlander there can only be one.