FC Famalicão 1 Sporting CP 2

Futebol Clube Famalicão v Sporting CP
Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho
Saturday September 13th, 2025
Matchday 5

The warm up

Matchday 5 sees Sporting travel to Famalicão after the international break with the Minho’s Minnows flying high currently sat second in the table, one point above the lions following their loss 2-1 to Porto in O Clássico. The game takes place at the Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho which I naturally assumed was named after a historic day in Portuguese history such as Freedom Day or Republic Day. How wrong was I? No apparently named after the day it was opened on June 22nd, 1991. It replaced the Campo de Cego which translates as the Field of the Blind which I thought was actually the name of Benfica’s stadium given the inability of match officials to see anything in relation to the Eagles on field activities. Located in Vila Nova de Famalicão the stadium has a capacity of just 5,186. Last season saw an average of attendance of 3,781 across their 17 home games with a total of 64,285 spectators putting bottoms on seats. They have failed to sell out their stadia for a single game since their return to the top flight despite being centred in a catchment area of over 125,000 inhabitants. Famalicão’s main rivals are Gil Vicente and the two sides face off in the lesser known Minho Derby, a game which they’ve already played the home fixture of this season. Their biggest competition for eyes on comes from Braga who for me have now cemented themselves as Portugal’s 4th biggest club. As with all smaller clubs in Portugal gaining any foothold in the market isn't an easy task and having larger neighbours just makes growth even harder. 

Vila Nova de Famalicão is an area with Roman roots and we're told has been inhabited since ancient times and is often referred to as the Portuguese Capital of Industry and is famed for it’s textiles and garments industry. In England their fans would be told to sit down on their tractor seats every time they start chanting Farmer. (What do you mean it’s Fama? Sounds like farmer to me. Oh well never mind no one will notice the accompanying artwork of the lion on the tractor, it’ll be fine). Originally called Villa Nova (New Town) the Famalicão part was added later. So not just the local council who are lazy when it comes to naming things it appears. The clubs nickname is Os Famalicenses (The ones from Famalicão). I think someone is taking the piss now quite frankly.

The club is owned by Israeli Billionaire Iden Ofer whose name to me sounds like a prank phone call to Moe’s Tavern on the Simpsons if ever there was one and right up their with the likes of Sheila Blige, Ben Dover, Will Singh, Dickie Hart… I could go on all day. He holds a reported 33% stake in La Liga side Atlético Madrid in addition through his investment vehicle Quantum Pacific Group. Probably best not to ask him how their huge summer investment is going so far over in Spain. 

Famalicão currently boast the leagues best defensive record and are yet to concede a goal with a highly impressive 4 clean sheets to their name. Sporting by comparison are the leagues highest scorers to date so something will have to given come the end of 90 minutes. Five goals scored in a record which reads 3 wins and a draw (Santa Clara H 3-0, Tondela A 1-0, Gil Vicente H 0-0 and AVS A 1-0). Those 5 goals scored shared between Dias, Sa, De Haas, Pinheiro and Elisor. They will be without Leonardo Realpe for this match who received his marching orders in the 1-0 away win to AVS on Matchday 4.

Last season Sporting won the corresponding fixture 3-0 with second half goals from Gyökeres, Quenda and Inácio. At the José Alvalade a 3-1 win started off by Fresneda in the 1st minute. Gyökeres converted a second half penalty and Geny put the game beyond any doubt close to full time. The lions unbeaten record against Famalicão now stretching back to March 3rd, 2020 when they finished 3-1 victors, a result which saw them complete the double over the lions that season. Top scorers last time out were Oscar Aranda with 9, Sorriso 8 and Gil Dias with 5. Gustavo Sa contributed 6 assists and the 20 year old looks more than capable of making the step up to a bigger side but no one has yet taken the option on him. They finished 7th with a record of 12 wins, 11 draws and 11 defeats, goals for 44, against 39, ten points off a European place. Their home record the 7th best in the division, reading won 7, drawn 7 and losing just 3 times including the aforementioned 3-0 to the lions. Goals scored 20, against just 12. Their season started on a high note in case anyone had forgotten with a 2-0 win over the neighbours just to prove their 2-0 win in the 2023/24 season with goals from José Luis Rodriguez and Zaydou Youssouf weren't a fluke. That 2-0 win in May the one which of course secured Sporting the 2023/24 title lest we should ever forget out gratitude to that side. Obrigado Famalicão! 

Just two sendings off all of last campaign, Vitória with 1 and Benfica in the perpetual Campo de Cego with 0 the only two sides with a better disciplinary record on that front. 77 bookings which was the 13th highest. With 4 clean sheets already this campaign they're well on their way to matching last season's total of 13 which was the 5th highest overall. That played a big part in them conceding an average of only 1.1 goals per game so the fact Sporting put 6 past them is not to be sniffed at. Goals scored - 1.3 per game is the area where they clearly suffered. If you can turn draws into wins then there's no reason they cannot attack a European place. 

Their current squad boosted by a familiar name in Rochinha who with his solitary goal in 20 appearances for the lions would give Jesé Rodriguez a good run for his money in terms of the worst signings in the past few seasons. Hugo Cunha also started out with Sporting B. 

Transfer News

I have to admit to being quite surprised that an awful lot of Sportinguista’s seemed to have fallen for what we call in England ‘doing a David Sullivan.’ The process is very simple; Identify a potential young talent or marque signing that you have no intention of signing unless the players current club are in severe financial difficulties and you manage to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Put in a lowball offer that you know won’t be accepted and leak to your contacts in the press. Increase that lowball offer in tiny increments you know won't be accepted and leak to the press again. Leave for a week or two and repeat the process. Add details to the press like the player wants to come to the club, finally end the window without purchasing a player you never had any intention of signing but you get to claim that you tried all summer to purchase them.

If you genuinely think we were after Kevin who went to Fulham for a reported fee of €40m or Yeremay Hernández who stayed with Deportivo la Coruña then you might need to go take a look at yourself in the mirror. I have to admit I wasn’t over enamoured with the prospect of paying over the odds for players from the Spanish Segunda and Ukrainian leagues but then again at no point did I think we were seriously in for them. I already think we’ve massively overpaid for Luis Suárez (not the spitting one) from Almería. I touched on how things went wrong for Porto when they started really spending the cash having dominated the European transfer market for so long in my last blog and it’s a lesson worth learning from without the financial cost.

Flashbacks of Adrien Silva’s transfer to Leicester as the last minute deal for Jota Silva from Nottingham Forest collapsed because of an email not having been sent. However unlike Adrien he won’t spend the next few months in limbo. I still think we should have signed him 12 months ago and considering his limited lack of game time having to pay an inflated fee on what Forest paid should have been a pass anyway.

I have to admit I was surprised to see Jeri St Juste turn down two moves during the window. I get that frequently players will look to run down their contracts to get better terms on their next move but given his injury record, if still with the lions come May, you’d imagine there’s a good chance he’ll be injured which would make finding a club all the more difficult. His reward for turning down the moves is a place in the Sporting B squad. *Since posting he has posted an update on his IG in relation to the perceived demotion. Personally I think it makes sense. He's still being paid the same. Sporting B will benefit hugely from his presence and the kids will learn an incredible amount. 

We said goodbye to Ricardo Esgaio. Plenty of nice words said online, mostly about what a good character he is and a model professional and an example to younger players. I'm still looking to see if I can see any about what a great player he is but I'll keep you posted. Still my favourite fun fact is how many titles he has under his belt compared to Harry Kane. Some thing's you couldn't make up. Anyways he's joined Faith Karagümrük which has taken me five minutes to type correctly so I hope you appreciate my dedication to these things. 

We've also said goodbye to my favourite golden Labrador puppy Conrad Harder who's departed for RB Leipzig in search of regular first team football. I still think he's going to be a massive success long term and was far more gutted to see him go than I was than Heir Flick going to join the Gooners. Bonne chance Conrad and thank you for the memories including the glorious header in the Taça de Portugal final against the neighbours. Given we've had to include a 25% sell on clause for Ioannidis and only got a 15% one included on Harder, I think we've shot ourselves in both feet this summer. Oh well time will tell. 

Travassos as mentioned on the last blog went to Moreirense on loan and it's probably just worth recapping all the other outgoing players just to refresh the Memory;

Marcus Edwards - Burnley 
Dario Essugo - Chelsea 
Diogo Pinto - Estrela 
Vladan Kovačević - Norwich
Koba Koindredi - Basel (Loan)
Sotiris Alexandropolous - Düsseldorf (Loan)
Afonso Moreira - Lyon
Biel - Atlético MG
Viktor Gyökeres - Arsenal
Franco Israel - Torino

The hierarchy spent €2.25m to take their holding in Geny Catamo up to 90% and a further €11m to buy the remainder of Trincão’s contract out from Barca. 

As mentioned above they finally got their man in Fotis Ioannidis the 25 year old Greek striker from Panathinaikos having spent all of last summer doing a David Sullivan with him. He peaked in the season before the lions tried to bring him to Lisboa scoring 23 times in 44 games. Last season his goalscoring output matched that of the outgoing Conrad Harder with 11 goals. I'm wondering where he fits if Harder left for regular first team football because it's not obvious in a system which employs Gonçalves, Suárez and Trincão at present. His last goal came on March 30th in a 4-2 loss against Olympiacos. We shall see over the next coming weeks what if anything he brings. I'll assume that the 25% sell on is for any profit the lions would make on selling the forward on. It wouldn't surprise me if that is correct that the 25% is then worth the sum total of fuck and all. Panathinaikos seem convinced he's the new Gyökeres but for me if you're only scoring 11 in a Greek league that's ranked around 79th in terms of quality around the world I'm not expecting him to be pulling up any trees. We shall see. I don't mind being wrong in these instances because it means they've been a success. 

A lot of daggers thrown at the hierarchy for their performance in the market during the summer which loops back to people actually believing they were going to get Yeremay or Kevin. Stay off social media is my advice or simply don't believe everything you read. Personally the biggest business in the window was keeping hold of the spine of a title winning squad. I'll worry more when next summer we're trying to replace Morita and Hjulmand in midfield. I imagine we can't keep hold of Diomande for a third straight summer either. Kochorashvili looks like he could be the long term solution for Morita but Hjulmand continues to go from strength to strength and could easily grace any of the top leagues in the world though only a handful will be able to afford him. 

Are we light in areas? Certainly not for centre halves given St Juste has been parked with the B team. Nuno Santos will be back to add strength to the left hand side, Bragança provides another option centrally as does Debast in fairness having deputised perfectly there for the second half of last season. 

Let's be honest here, opinions are like arseholes, we've all got one. For me personally I don't get the point in paying big money for signings who block the progress of the abundance of talented youngsters we have. We've seen this summer Mateus Fernandes sign for West Ham for £40m plus at the age of 21 just a year after we sold him for some magic beans. We've sold Essugo who like Fernandes we were never gifted the opportunity to see what he's capable of doing. I've already mentioned the loss of Harder who felt his path was blocked by the signing of Suárez and Moreira must have felt the same even further down the pecking order to have packed his bags and offed to France. We've lost Fatawu to Leicester who keeps coming up with a series of wonder goals. Granted we won't ever keep these types of players for long, this is Portugal after all but it would be nice to see them have the opportunity to progress and for me that's how you should frame the summer window. Maybe we'll see a Mauro Couto or a Flavio Gonçalves come in at some point and start to make an impact. 

Famalicão's business started in April with the signing of Leonardo Realpe (RB) from RB Bragantino. Since then they've brought in the following;

Gustavo Garcia (RB) Palmeiras 
Pedro Santos (RW) Benfica B
Sorriso (RW) RB Bragantino 
Romeo Beney (RW) Basel

Fuck me have Famalicão got a penchant for right sided players or were they just shit on that side last season?

Marcos Pena (DM) Almería - right footed in case you're wondering. 

Renan Santana - Atlético MG
Rafael Venâncio - Corinthians 
Antoine Joujou (LM) - Parma
Gonzalo Pastor (AM) - Castellon

I look forward to a commentator shouting Joujou very loudly at some point if he finds the back of the net though preferably not against Sporting on the 13th please. Mind you if he gets sent off that would make it Bad Joujou. 

Outgoings 

Pablo to Gil Vicente. I bet he won't get a warm welcome ever again at Famalicão 
Afonso Rodrigues - Tondela
Enea Mihaj - Atlanta United 
Otso Liimatta - IFK Värnamo
Samuel Lobato - Portimonense 
Mirko Topic - Norwich
Dani Morer - Makedonikos 

Enea Mihaj sounds like he should be in a Bollywood Blockbuster although I might be confusing him with the hit track Eena Meena Deeka from the film Aasha. See you don't get cultural references like that anywhere else do you? Hey this shit is free, stop your fucking moaning at the back no one is forcing you to read it. Thank you though. Love you. Everyday is a school day and if it's any consolation I've now got the song stuck in my head so that'll fucking learn me. Be grateful though I've not drawn you into reading about the loss in O Clássico. 

Sporting B

The young lions returned to winning ways after losing their first game of the season the week previous as they beat Paços de Ferreira 3-0. This is a side who are regularly seen in the top flight let's not forget. Goals from Couto, Gonçalves and Ribeiro.

Starting XI 

Callai, Silva, Ramos, Moreira, Couto, Lucas, Justo, Anjos, Ribeiro and Gonçalves 

Used substitutes

Blopa, Dias, Felicíssimo, Mendonca and Nel

Next up for the young guns Portimonense away on Sunday September 14th. 

Sporting CP Feminino

The women's team started their campaign on Thursday with the small matter of a Champions League away tie to AS Roma. Trailing 1-0 in the 90th they turned the first leg on its head in additional time through goals from Florencia Bonseguendo (90+2) and Telma Encarnacao (90+7). The two sides will meet in the second leg next Thursday at 1630 hours. Danger of over celebration on that second goal me thinks. 

International roundup

Thursday 

David Moreira warmed the bench in Cape Verde’s 2-0 win over Mauritius though to be fair to the youngster he may also have gotten to enjoy the feeling of sand between his toes at some point. Sporting boy Jovane Cabral continued his good start to the season however as he scored the opener after 22 minutes. 

Kochorashvili finished on the losing side for Georgia as they went down 3-2 at home to Turkiye. He played the full 90 minutes and completed the most passes of any player on the pitch although he may have forgotten his shooting boots in Lisboa with his two efforts both off target. 

A far easier night for Debast away in Lichtenstein as Belgium won 6-0. He completed 83 passes over the course of the 90. Belgium racked up a total of 628 compared to 86 for the home side who finished with an XG of 0 so an easy night for the youngster.

Friday 

Luis Suárez clocked up the air miles if nothing else on his return to the national side as he sat watching on as Colombia won 3-0 at home to Bolivia. 

Geny Catamo probably left wishing he'd been on the bench as he plays the full 90 for Mozambique in a 4-0 thumping away to Uganda. 

Hjulmand starts and plays a full 90 for Denmark v Scotland. Misses a chance in injury time to win the game from a set piece as the game finishes all square at 0-0.  

Vagiannidis starts for Greece, plays a full 90 minutes and assisted the second goal against Belarus in a 5-1 win. Fellow new signing Ioaniddis plays the last 17 minutes. The win sees them top the table over Hjulmands Denmark who they face on Monday night. 

Portugal's U21s beat Azerbaijan's U21s 5-0. Quenda scores and starts alongside Travassos. Muniz is an unused substitute.

Saturday 

Portugal beat Armenia 5-0. Inácio plays the full 90, Trincão plays the entirety of the second half and Gonçalves came on with 24 minutes to go. Rui Silva an unused substitute.

Sunday 

Georgia win 3-0 against Bulgaria. Despite only playing 77 minutes Kochorashvili for the second game running completes the most passes of any player in the match. 

Another easy night for Debast with Belgium v Kazakhstan as they clock up another 6-0 win. 75 passes for the youngster at a 96% completion rate. 

Monday 

Better times for Geny Catamo as Mozambique beat Botswana 2-0. He plays 69 minutes before his return to Lisboa. 

Three lions involved in the Greece v Denmark game. Vagiannidis and Hjulmand played the full 90 minutes with Ioannidis coming on for the last 15 for Greece. Hjulmand with bragging rights as the Dane's won 3-0. 

Tuesday 

Having warmed the bench Thursday David Moreira not even in the matchday squad for Cape Verde's 1-0 win. Quenda and Travassos both start in the Portugal U21s 2-0 win away to Scotland. Not such a great night for old boy Mateus Fernandes however as he saw his marching orders following two yellow cards. 

Inácio, Gonçalves and Silva all spend the night warming the bench as Portugal beat Hungary 3-2. Trincão comes on as a substitute with 24 minutes remaining.

Wednesday 

To round out events on the international front Luis Suárez who hasn't kicked a ball in Colombian colours for who knows how long decides to give them a taste of what they've clearly been missing as he scores FOUR past Venezuela in a 6-3 win. Whether he features Saturday we'll wait and see given he has a distance of 9,000 kilometres to get back before Saturday and readjust to the time difference. Still he had a more fun international break than I did. Not hard to be fair. Fuck Armenia. 

In the markets

Famalicão 11/2
Draw 15/4
Sporting CP 4/9

Team News 

Rui Silva and Geny Catamo both out injured. Diomande and Morita still not fit. Araújo listed as being doubtful despite his claims prior to the international break that he could play 30 minutes. The lions still awaiting the return of long term absentees Nuno Santos and Bragança. Sporting B play the best part of 600 kilometres away Sunday morning so I imagine call ups from there would be limited to make up numbers in the squad if they're unlikely to see any game time. Got that feeling of déjà vu already and it's only matchday 5.

Starting XI

Virgínia; Vagiannidis, Debast, Inácio, Mangas; Hjulmand, Kochorashvili Quenda, Trincão, Gonçalves and Suárez.

Substitutes 

Callai, Reis, Araújo, Fresneda, Alisson, Simões, Lucas, Quaresma and Ioannidis.

Full debut for Vagiannidis in for Fresneda,  Virgínia in for Silva and Quenda for Geny. Harder has of course departed since the transfer window closed. Ioannidis comes into the matchday squad. Araújo is indeed fit enough to be named as substitute. Callai called up with Silva's injury. 

This the ground where last season Nuno Santos was stretchered off and hasn't been seen in a Sporting shirt since. Also where Quenda became the lions youngest ever league goalscorer. 

Famalicão Starting XI 

25 Carevic, 17 Pinheiro, 55 Ba, 16 Da Haas, 25 Bondo, 14 De Amorim, 8 Pena, 23 Dias, 20 Sa, 7 Sorriso, 12 Elisor 

First half 

Sporting a la Amy Winehouse have gone back to black. The lions attack left to right and get the game underway.

1 Smart tackle from Kochorashvili to dispossess De Amorim centrally in the final third 

1 Audible cries of pain as Mangas goes down on the halfway line. Second free kick awarded in under a minute. Could be one of those sorts of games 

3 Carevic outside his area playing as an extra defender as is the current fashion for goalkeepers 

4 Gonçalves fouled by De Amorim. Free kick to the lions 40 yards out. Floated in and headed back across goal by Hjulmand to Suárez who tries an acrobatic side volley 8 yards out which clears the bar 

6 Calm defending by Ba who dispossessed Trincão in full flight with a run centrally on goal 

8 De Amorim fires into the side netting from 17 yards. Must have taken a touch en route as corner far side.

10 Replays of the Suárez effort. That would have been some goal had he managed to keep the effort down 

10 Gonçalves attacks down the left but directs his cross out of play for a goal kick 

11 Good run by Suárez on the right but Bondo dispossessed him a little too easily in the end with a shoulder charge 

12 Miscommunication between Kochorashvili and Mangas as the Georgian plays a give and go but Mangas forgot to go

13 Foul awarded against Trincão. Can't see any difference between that and Bondo’s challenge 2 minutes previously 

14 Sporting really should be 1-0 up. Quenda found wide open on the right sees his shot blocked by Carevic. Beautifully weighted ball by Trincão, Quenda took the effort first time from 11 yards and it struck the leg of the keeper who took the power off the effort and was able to pounce

15 Corner Famalicão far side headed clear 

16 GOAL Sá puts the home side into the lead. Famalicão 1 Sporting CP 0. Short corner crossed into the back post by De Amorim and Sá heads in unmarked from 5 yards at the far post. Mangas the man who failed to pick the youngster up 

19 Yellow Hjulmand. He shakes his head as he walks off in disgust. Shirt pull on Sorriso who dropped to the floor with a movement impossible from the action 

20 The home side up to second as it stands. In truth the lions should have been celebrating… hold that thought

21 GOAL Famalicão 1 Sporting CP 1. Quenda with a beautiful pass to Gonçalves who shrugged off Ba and nutmegs the keeper with the outside of his right boot. The lions are celebrating now. I say nutmeg. For the pendants he obviously doesn't then collect the ball the other side but you know what I mean when I write it.

23 Kochorashvili takes out Sá in midfield turning his man which disguised the actual contact. He's a wily operator 

24 Inácio shown the yellow for a foul on Sá. His arm catches the youngster as he turned who made the most of the contact 

26 Bondo let's fly from 30 yards and had there not been fencing behind the goal it would still be flying 

27 Yellow Sá as he tries to swap shirts early with Inácio 

27 Suárez chases down an over hit pass by Vagiannidis into the box far right. The Colombian does well to keep it in play and cut it back but found a sea of white shirts 

28 Quenda and Vagiannidis combine well on the overlap on the right but Bondo manages to see the ball out 

29 De Amorim mistake, passes to Trincão who tries to curl an effort in from 20 yards but it goes agonisingly wide of the far post 

30 Vagiannidis collects in the box and Bondo went down like Jenga. Referee quick to confirm no penalty. In fairness to the player he does get hit by force but there wasn't much the Greek could do. Benfica will however claim it was a penalty all week long. That's not a typo, that's a statement of fact 

35 Another corner far side for Famalicão. Foul in the box by Sá. Niggly game this 

36 Benny Hill show as Famalicão awarded a throw. Then to Sporting. Back to Famalicão. Not at all embarrassing for the match officials 

37 Suárez has the ball in the net but the flag quickly up. In fairness he was a good yard off. Not sure why he's wagging his finger. 

39 Play restarts. Fuck knows what they were checking there on VAR. Perhaps what the referee wanted to eat at half time

44 Suárez down in the box. He wags his finger again at the referee but Da Haas the stronger man and correct decision given again. Presumably they don't have VAR in the Spanish second division 

Plus five indicated

+1 Sorriso shot blocked on the edge of the area 

+2 Curled ball from Sá to the near post slices clear for a corner by Inácio 

+2 Da Haas heads over from ten yards. Good solid defensive header that one 

+3 Dias yanks Mangas to the ground and shown the yellow 

+4 Bondo shown the yellow for simulation in the box. Referee had no hesitation in pulling out the card 

+5 Sá has been down for a good minute holding his throat after contact from Inácio in the buildup to that last attack 

+6 51’47 and the referee blows his whistle to end the half 

Half time 

Famalicão 1 Sporting CP 1 

The lions should really be going in at half time with the lead although technically it would probably have only been 1-0 but Quenda should have done better with his effort one on one just before Famalicão went straight up the other end and opened the scoring. In fairness to the youngster though he is at least putting in his best performance since Benfica in the Taça de Portugal in May. 

It's been a bitty half with a succession of fouls from both sides which has stopped the game from having any real flow. Famalicão allowing Sporting's attackers a yard or two of space just dropping off which has made some of their runs good on the eye even if the end result has borne little fruition other than Gonçalves equaliser. Quenda, Trincão, Suárez and Trincão all looking like panthers in full flight with Sporting all in black which is ironic given they're all representing the lions. 

In truth this game is anyone's right now. Sporting would do well to consider swapping out some bodies on a yellow card because I can see the referee showing a red at some point in the second 45. Most of the danger has come down the right hand side and I'm still not convinced by Mangas at all and he was of course guilty of not picking up his man for the opening goal. Araújo said he was fit enough for half hour and we've got Reis as another option although Inácio really has to watch his back given their players, Sá especially, are going down under any contact from the arm. 

Famalicão playing the offside trap have caught Sporting out three times but we've seen with Quenda's effort and Gonçalves goal that's where the key to unlocking the game is likely to come from. Sporting's XG 1.43 to Famalicão’s 0.64. Just the four attempts for the lions which interestingly have brought one of their highest XGs at half time so far this campaign. 

Second half 

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

45 13 seconds on the clock and first foul of the half by Kochorashvili 

45 52 seconds and Sá fouls Kochorashvili as he applied the brakes and let the weight of the youngster take him down. He is one of the most clever players I've seen play for Sporting in a long time 

47 Free kick against Suárez on Ba. This is far from Catalonian football were watching with Ba Sá. Think about it...

47 Pinheiro foul on Gonçalves. Fuck me this is like watching the NFL

48 POST Kochorashvili found himself free on the left. His pass found Mangas who pulled the ball back to Quenda whose effort from ten yards hits the post and came back out. To be fair to him it was behind him and he has to adjust his body to get the shot away 

49 Naughty from Gonçalves as he sweeps the legs of Sá away on the touchline. 

50 Whistle had gone for a shove on Hjulmand by De Amorim who shot after he made the foul and continued on. Came from 17 yards out and a great save from Virgínia even if it wouldn't have counted 

52 Cross to the near post from Mangas headed out for a corner. That came from a chipped ball into the area from Kochorashvili who is having a big impact on this half already 

53 Replay of the Quenda effort shows he has to go a yard back and then try to adjust his body to get the shot away. Had that been to feet that was 2-1

54 The lions hunting in packs now offensively looking for that defensive error 

55 Good defending by Mangas to take the ball of the toe of Sá and clear for a throw far side 

56 Sporting finding acres of space down the left this half 

57 Da Haas diving header to clear away from the head of Suárez for a corner 

59 Vagiannidis looks like he's blowing out his arse 

60 Be nice if we could find someone on the left who can cross. Mangas already drives me potty and not just because his mum let's him wear his hair like that 

61 Trincão swings his left boot from 24 yards and sends the ball over the bar centrally 

62 Yellow shirt pull on Gonçalves by Peña

64 GOAL Suárez makes it Famalicão 1 Sporting CP 2 from 8 yards. Trincão shot blocked and dropped at the feet of Gonçalves who saw the Colombian wide open and he could hardly believe his good fortune as he puts it into the bottom right hand corner. That's his fifth goal of the week and third of the season as a lion 

67 ➡️⬅️ Kochorashvili and Mangas off. Ioannidis and Araújo on 

69 Famalicão set to make a double substitution of their own. 

70 ➡️⬅️ 77 Looi for Peña and Bondo off for Joujou 

71 I take it back about Kochorashvili as Araújo sticks his foot out and wins a free kick. I forgot he had that in his locker having debuted it against Benfica to my eternal amusement last season. We have two intelligent players amid our ranks 

75 Header over the bar from 8 yards. Cross too high for Elisor to get under 

76 Break in play as treatment on Ba continues. Shot of a hole in his sock on the heel as if Ioannidis caused it and not a pair of scissors before kick off as is the modern fashion 

79 For the first time in this game we've seen Debast and Inácio really pushed up towards the half way line as the lions try press for a third 

80 ➡️⬅️ Pedro Santos for Sá and Zabiri for Elisor. You wouldn't lose Zabiri under nightclub lighting with his white hair 

84 Quenda, Hjulmand and Araújo down on the floor as challenges continue to fly in. Finally a free kick awarded to the lions 

86 Inácio fouled by Pinheiro 30 yards from goal centrally. Jesus what was he doing up there? Someone check his nose for signs of bleeding  

86 Free kick easily cleared by Famalicão 

87 ➡️ ⬅️ Simões and Allison on Gonçalves and Suárez off.

87 ➡️ ⬅️ Abubakar for De Amorim 

88 Pedro Santos effort rebounds off Simões and collected by Virgínia 

Plus five shown 

90 Concentration at maximum here gentlemen please 

90 Yellow Araújo. Free kick wide right 

+1 ➡️⬅️ Quaresma for Trincão 

+1 Another deflected shot loops up and into the arms of Virgínia

+2 Hand bags between Virgínia and Zabiri off camera. No idea what that was about but the Famalicão mister saw the funny side whatever it was 

+4 Simões effort saved from wide left ten yards out. He and Allison combined in the corner before the youngster beat two men with a run into the box. That would have been some goal. I thought they were running down the clock but the space opened up and Simões went for it 

+5 Corner far side. Sporting running down the clock 

+6 Famalicão down to ten with a man down with cramp on the nearside 

+6 Inácio with a great run from defence to attack then shanks the ball to their keeper. Fuck a duck that was wank in the end

+6 96’56 referee blows the whistle 

Full time

Famalicão 1 Sporting CP 2

The final word 

Sporting with their fourth win of the campaign leap frog next Monday' opponents Moreirense into second place on goal difference. I'm definitely glad that game wasn't played in the pouring rain because I've seen us lose that a dozen times or more over the years. It wasn't pretty on the eye although that being said if you edited out the 39 combined fouls awarded it might make an attractive watch over a 20 minute highlights package. Sporting did enough. Quenda will be sat on the coach back wondering how the fuck he's not scored tonight. The XG reflects the scoreline with 0.96 to 2.21. 9 attempts each which is remarkably low for this Sporting team though in fairness to them they are carrying another raft of injuries. First league game their attempts haven't made double figures. Not sure of the Supertaça off the top of my head. (13 apparently).

Virgínia looks a good bit of business it must be said especially considering we've paid nothing and gotten €5m for Israel who conceded five on his league debut for Torino against Inter. I certainly don't feel any anxiety watching him as I did when Adán or Silva got injured in past seasons. 

I remain unconvinced by Mangas defensively and offensively. He'd be third in the pecking order behind Araújo and Reis for me. On the other side I thought Fresneda has looked good so it seems somewhat unfair on the lad to have lost his place tonight to Vagiannidis but in fairness both look much more comfortable than Mangas in both halves of the field. Debast and Inácio looked unflustered as the central pairing. 

With so many fouls especially in the central area it's hard to really evaluate the performances of Hjulmand and Kochorashvili fully. The Georgian certainly started the second half well and his game management is certainly impressive. I was impressed by all the front four tonight. Quenda's best performance previously as a lion for me came in the Taça de Portugal final and that was more defensive than offensive. That's the base level I want to see from the youngster and caps off a good fortnight for him. Gonçalves and Trincão had plenty of industry with the odd moment off flare thrown in. Suárez deserved his goal and genuinely looks much more than just a goalscorer. He has no perception of space or what a foul is or how to stay on his feet but other than that he's like mould - He's growing on me. 

I don't know what to make of the Ioannidis signing. Being honest it's a deal I had zero enthusiasm for and all week I've been thinking we've been sold a pup and brought the Greek Luiz Phelleype. Then I looked at the Brazilian's stats lunchtime and they were better than I thought so maybe he's the Greek Jesé Rodriguez. He looks a unit but is that his normal size or is that summer timber? I think I need to reserve judgement but I didn't see anything once he came on that justified the level of investment in him. His stats so far for Panathinaikos this season were bang average and the only time he'd found the net was in a penalty shootout. He hasn't finished a game he's started, wasn't even in one of the squads and one game and made little or no impact off the bench.

I know Simões and Allison only had a little cameo between them but they provided the most exciting part of the match for me with the little inter play in the corner which ended with a sharp turn and run into the box from Simões and the keeper making a brilliant save to deny him what would have been an incredible goal. If they play like that coming on Borges will have a wonderful headache to deal with. Araújo still doesn't look at 100% but he did enough coming on as Sporting looked to just see the game out which leaves Quaresma who is pretty much now the forgotten man. To be fair to Eduardo he wasn't on long enough to make a difference and barely touched the ball. 

So all in all I think a deserved win and a much needed win as Porto made it five from five. The neighbours slipped up yesterday as they failed to beat Santa Clara who played I think at least 60 minutes with ten men. That ends Famalicão's unbeaten start to the season. Moreirense throwing the cat amongst the pigeons and good to see both sides up there for now as a good advertisement for the Portuguese league. We know it won't be like that come May but still for now it's pleasing. 

That leaves man of the match time. I think I have an easy night really and just give you the front four to choose from. Quenda with two massive chances even if the shot that hit the post was much harder than the first. I was genuinely pleased with his contribution overall, much improved. Maybe the time with the under 21's has boosted his confidence as will his assist tonight. Trincão didn't have his shooting boots on today but continues to prove a nuisance and his positional play is spot on to be in the right place at the right time to at least be able to fashion those chances for himself. In truth though it comes down to Suárez or Gonçalves. The Colombian capped a fine week with five goals to his name. He's another one of those wasp like players that you spend your night as a defender desperately trying to swat away from the 18 yard box. I'm entirely convinced he makes it to the 20 goal mark. Be a big bonus if he does it just in the league. However Gonçalves gets my man of the match for his goal, assist and overall contribution. Finally he's starting to get back to the levels we know he is capable of. Importantly unlike the start to last season and the one before he's now taking his chances again and finding the net. Now if he could just adjust his attitude and grow up a bit...

Champions league Thursday night awaits. Da da der der der the Champions bum bum bum bahhhh.