Sporting CP 4 Rio Ave 0
Sunday December 28th, 2025
Estádio José Alvalade
Matchday 16
The warm up
The lions welcome Rio Ave to the José Alvalade having playing them four times in all competitions last season. Thankfully for Sporting they won all four with an aggregate score of 10-2. Rio Ave haven't beaten the green and whites in any competition since 2019, although that year they did beat them twice in the space of 28 days, both times in Lisboa, firstly 3-2 in the league and then they followed that with a 2-1 win in the Taça da Liga. In the subsequent 12 games in all competitions they've recorded nine losses and 3 draws. For the second straight season they'll face off against Sporting without their top goalscorer Clayton who picked up a ban for his fifth booking of the campaign. Given the company he was keeping in the stands when banned previously it's fair to say he didn't look at all disappointed to not be on the pitch and seemed well on his way to scoring off of it but I guess that I really shouldn't cast aspersions on people's nature.
If this was a school then Ave have already broken up for their festive holidays whilst the lions still have to face off against Vitória in Guimarães on Tuesday night. Their last pre-Christmas fixture was played out on Saturday night away to Gil Vicente who will be Sporting's last opponents before the halfway point of the season.
Sporting went unbeaten in the second half of last season in the league and you imagine they'll need to repeat that again as a minimum this time around if they're to retain their league title. I keep thinking that at some point Porto have to show signs of fatigue from no preseason and having competed in the Club World Cup in the summer but in the league at least their unbeaten run continues. However they did show signs with the recent defeat in the Taça da Liga loss away to Vitória. That being said if the lions don't secure maximum points against Vitória, Rio Ave and Gil Vicente to remain on their coattails it probably won't matter much what Porto do anyway. Mind you their mister did see his Ajax side throw away the Eredivisie title having gone into the final rounds with a ten point advantage, so the five points gap at the time of writing may well not seem enough. Time will tell.
With the winter market fast approaching and the lions suffering another spate of injuries its been confirmed that Flávio Gonçalves has been promoted to the first team, a move that I'm personally very much in favour of. I've watched Mateus Fernandes a few times in recent weeks in the Claret and Blue of West Ham United and been highly impressed by his performances but by the same token saddened that it's not been in the green and white of Sporting. I say green and white, it could be in the colours of any one of our nine kits to date but you get my point. I'm fed up of watching talent prospering at other clubs before having being given a decent opportunity to prove their worth in our first team. Whilst Rui Silva's signing in the last window clearly worked out as a smart bit of transfer business, our recent record in the winter window has been appalling and rarely if ever do you find the missing piece to your jigsaw puzzle at this time of the year. We keep reading that Borges wants a right footed player who can play on the left wing and the youngster clearly fits that bill so why not give him the chance to prove himself? At some point Nuno Santos is going to be knocking on the door for a place in the squad, Pedro Gonçalves will return, Alisson provides another option and going to the market is rarely the answer at this time of year. It's hard enough to ingratiate yourself into new surroundings in the summer, trying to do it in winter is so much harder. Any player of real quality is going to be hard to get out of their contract unless you pay the release clause and most clubs are now wise to set them as high as possible to avoid clubs triggering them and taking away their best talent. We've seen the B team exceed all expectations this campaign having topped the second division for most of it up until the last round of fixtures. Clearly we've more talent in the wings waiting to step up to the first team and what's the point of having such a well renowned youth setup of it's just benefiting other clubs and we sell the family silver for a fraction of its worth? Back to Fernandes as an example where by West Ham parted with the best part of four times the fee we received when selling him to Southampton a season earlier. We've in theory got to replace both Hjulmand and Morita in the summer and he'd have been the perfect solution to either one of them leaving. Thankfully we've seen João Simões step up and take his chance which lessens the blow but I'm loathe to have to be hearing that Gonçalves is making waves somewhere else in a season or two's time away from the lions.
As for Rio Ave, well they currently sit 11th in the table under the mister Sotiris Sylaidopoulos. Christ you've got to feel for Greek kids at school. Year one must be spent just learning how to spell and write their names correctly. Their record - played 15, won 3, drawn 8, lost 4, GF 19 and GA 24. Their away record reads played 8, won 2, drawn 5, lost 1, GF and GA 12. This has seen them collect five more points on the road than at home. Of the 19 goals scored 15 have been from open play, 1 set piece, 2 penalties and an own goal. They're outperforming their XG which stands at 15.2.
As an indication of what a miss Clayton will be for this game, he's scored just over half their goals with 10. Andre Luiz with roughly a quarter on 5. Spikic has 2 and Vrousai with 1 making own goal the joint fourth highest scorer for them. Four players who've scored a goal equalled by four players who've been sent off. Some records you really don't want or need.
They've conceded on average of 1.6 goals per game and equally happy to concede possession of the ball averaging just 45.8% per game. Just two clean sheets as they face the leagues top scorers. They rank lowest in the league for accurate crosses and long balls. They do however rank number one for most clearances per match and second in most saves at 3.7 per game. Third most yellow cards with 43 and third with the aforementioned 4 reds. In short expect Sporting to have the bulk of possession, Rio Ave to hoof it to touch and potentially add some more names to the injury roster before the new year. It doesn't scream classic on paper.
Breakdown of the visitors campaign to date
Matchday 1 - Their season began with a draw at home to Nacional. Clayton with the opening goal after just 12 minutes, they conceded 8 minutes from time. Their 20 attempts yielded 2 big chances, 1 of which converted. Nacional missed their 1 big chance. XG 1.37 to 0.88.
Matchday 2 - Away to Arouca they trailed 1-0 at half time before goals from Clayton and Spikic turned the game on its head. Trezza equalised to make it 2-2 only for Clayton to restore the advantage not much more than sixty seconds later. Djouahara scored two minutes into additional time and the game finished 3-3. Both sides converting their 2 big chances created. Despite the six goals the combined XG a shade over 2 with 0.65 to 1.54.
Matchday 3 - Ave welcomed Sporting Braga and 3 goals in the space of just ten first half minutes saw the home side leading 2-1 with a Clayton brace. The visitors finally equalised with 3 minutes remaining. Final score 2-2 and a third straight draw. Five attempts in total for the home team compared to Braga’s 20. They scored their 1 big chance, Braga missed 2 of their 4. Final XG 1.05 to 2.20.
Matchday 4 - Back on the road still seeking their first win, Moreirense the opponents and a tough one at that as they found themselves 3-0 down with all the goals coming after the half time interval. Luiz scored the consolation in a 3-1 defeat. Both sides recorded 15 attempts, Ave created four big chances scoring just the 1. Moreirense scored 2 of their 3. Final XG 2.25 to 1.17.
Matchday 5 - The league leaders in town and Porto took just 3 minutes to open the scoring and just 12 to have made it 2. Ave had no reply as they eventually lost 3-0. They created 7 attempts, no big chances and their lowest XG to date of just 0.23. Porto missed 4 of their 6 big chances.
Matchday 6 - Fans maybe left fearing the worse before a ball was kicked as the fixture list threw Benfica at them next. They kept the score at 0-0 until 5 minutes before the end of the 90. However rather impressively they weren't to be denied a point equalising through Luiz on the stroke of 90 minutes to earn a 1-1 draw. Four attempts for Ave with an even lower XG than the match previous at 0.16. No big chances for them created unsurprisingly given that XG. Benfica with an XG of 2.57 missed 2 of their 4 big chances and totalled 19 attempts.
Matchday 7 - Another away trip, this time to Famalicão and another draw as this finished 0-0. Ave guilty of missing both their big chances however the home side missed all their 4. Just 5 shots for the visitors with an XG of 0.49 compared to 28 attempts at an XG of 2.42.
Matchday 8 - Surely their fortune had to change against newly promoted Tondela and sure enough it did going in 2-0 at half time through goals from Spikic and Luiz. Clayton added a third and finally after 720 minutes of football they had their first 3 points. They scored 3 of their 4 big chances, the visitors missed all 3 of theirs. XG 2.30 to 0.85 despite 13 attempts apiece.
Taça de Portugal Round 3 - A break from the league for last season's beaten semi finalists versus lower league opposition in Sintrense. A Gual opener on 19 minutes opened the scoring for Rio Ave and their fans were most probably waiting for the floodgates to open and so they did as it went 1-1, 2-1, 3-1. Zoabi made it 3-2 ten minutes from time but the top flight side sent packing with their tails between their legs.
Matchday 9 - A chance to appease their fans away to fellow strugglers Estrela. They fell behind just before the half hour, however second half goals from Luiz and Vrousai gave them their first away win and more importantly back to back league wins. They scored their only big chance, Estrela missed both theirs. The hosts attempts a ratio of 2:1 recording 16. Final XG 0.82 to 0.86.
Matchday 10 - The wheels well and truly came off after Jonathan Panzo was sent off after just 20 minutes at home to Estoril. The visitors scored twice in either half with no reply to spank Rio Ave 4-0. Their XG 0.17 to 3.19, 2 attempts to 24, 0 big chances with the visitors despite scoring 4 goals missing 5 of their 6 created. I think it's safe to say it could have been a whole lot worse.
Matchday 11 - Having beaten newly promoted side Tondela, could they repeat the result away to Alverca? Things looked positive when Clayton opened the scoring ten minutes before half time. However Lima’s goal 14 minutes from time was enough for them to claim a point. The home side guilty of missing 2 of their 3 big chances, Ave 1 of their 2. Final XG 1.59 to 0.69.
Matchday 12 - In any other season 2 wins from your opening 11 games would have any team bang in relegation trouble but this seasons Portuguese league is to put it politely full of dross. Chasing their third win they weren't helped when Clayton failed to convert a 14th minute penalty, though he made amends 9 minutes later to open the scoring at home to Santa Clara. The islanders equaliser came from a penalty of their own 8 minutes from half time. With neither side able to find a break through in the second half it stayed 1-1. The visitors scored their only big chance whereas Ave guilty of missing a whopping 4 of their 5. XG 2.10 to 1.04 although once more both sides with the same total amount of attempts with 9 each.
Matchday 13 - Away to AVS everyone's current favourite whipping boys and whilst the scoreline may not have been convincing, they did win their third game of the campaign. A Perea goal sandwiched between a Clayton brace. The winner in the 2nd minute of additional time at the end of the 90 from the penalty spot - they all count. Both sides missed 2 big chances with Ave creating 4 and AVS 3. 17 attempts for the visitors to 9 and their XG 2.37 to 1.63.
Matchday 14 - They hosted Vitória and not for the first time this season found themselves down to ten men before half hour had even passed after Marios Vrousai was given his second booking. 6 minutes later Oumar Camara scored the only goal for the visitors. Ave created 0 big chances, the visitors missed one of their 2 and their ratio of attempts 2:1 as they totalled 16. Final XG 0.46 to 1.40.
Matchday 15 - The last game brings us up to date and provides Ave with an 8 day rest before they face the lions. Again they finished with ten men as Nikitscher was shown a second yellow 8 minutes into additional time at the end of the 90. Travelling away to Gil Vicente, Murilo gave the home side the lead 7 minutes before half time only for Luiz to equalise 2 minutes later. An Espirages own goal on 65 put Aves into the lead. Toure had a goal ruled out 4 minutes later which would have made it 2-2. A minute after going down to ten, Gil finally found the equaliser through Pablo and the visitors record their eighth draw. That's 53.33% of their league games that have now ended in a stalemate. Both sides scored their 1 big chance. Incredibly Ave managed 2 goals from 3 attempts of course aided by the own goal. 23 attempts for the home side, the final XG 1.27 to 0.27.
In my last post for the Vitória game I highlighted how they as a fan owned club operating under a socios model now have to compete all the more with foreign investment and Rio Ave is one such example. They're owned by the Greek billionaire Evangelos Marinakis who acquired the club in 2023 alongside his ownership of Premier League Nottingham Forest and recent Europa Conference League winners and current Greek Champions Olympiacos. That ownership is very much reflected in the club's business in the summer transfer window with several players being parked in Portugal by their new Director of Operations Edu who was previously at Arsenal. This is nothing new in European football of course and we saw it to great effect with Watford and Udinese over the years under the Pozzo family ownership though eventually English governing laws were tightened up to prevent the exploitation of such loopholes. For now there's clearly nothing stopping it happening in the Portuguese leagues. Interestingly their squad contains just three Portuguese players which coincidentally is how many Wolverhampton Wanderers have left in their Premier League squad. There's your fun fact you never knew you needed in your life.
Incoming
Jonathan Panzo from Nottingham Forest for free
Antonis Papakanellos from Olympiacos on loan
Nikolaos Athanasiou from Olympiacos on loan
Andreas Ntoi from Olympiacos for free
Nelson Abbey from Olympiacos for free
Clayton from Vasco de Gama for £2.5 million
Kevin Chamorro from Deportivo Saprissa for free
Marc Gual from Legia Warszara for free
Giorgos Lucas from Panetolikos for £415,000
Dario Spikic from Dinamo Zagreb for £498,000
Rafael Lobato from Botofogo for free
Cressi from Aster-SP U20 for free
Omar Richards from Nottingham Forest on loan
Alfonso Pastor free agent
Tamas Nikitscher from Real Valladolid for free
Lorent Talla from QPR for free
Eric da Silva Moreira from Nottingham Forest on loan
Jakub Brabec from Aris Thessaloniki for free
Outgoing
Georgios Okkas to Panionios on loan
João Novais released
Antzelo Dina to PAS Giannina for free
Matheus Teixeira released
Renato Pantalon to Estrela for free
Miguel Nobrega to Vitória for free
Wednesday update
The lions reward for beating Santa Clara in the Taça de Portugal is a quarter final tie at home to AVS.
In the African Cup of Nations Côte d'Ivoire faced off against Mozambique. Geny played the full 90 however his side lost 1-0. The winger with 3 of his nations 4 attempts as they managed an XG of just points 0.24. Sportinguista's probably won't be surprised to learn that Diomande was an unused substitute under their mister Emerse Faé. Why he bothered to take him is a mystery as he clearly doesn't fancy him and even when he did play him last time it was out of position at left back. Last cup of Nations the same thing happened after the youngster made a mistake in the opener and was left out and came back out of rhythm to the detriment of the club that pays his wages. Hugely frustrating.
Sunday update
Geny played the full 90 as Mozambique celebrated their first ever win after 17 attempts at the African Cup of Nations. His corner led to the opening goal, he then scored from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Gabon pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 at half time. Catamo:s side made it 3-1 and despite conceding a second held on for the win 3-2.
Diomande once more missing from the lineup for the Côte d'Ivoire as they kick off against Cameroon at 2000 hours.
Team News
Starting XI
Silva, Vagiannidis, Quaresma, Inácio, Mangas, Hjulmand, Simões, Trincão, Araújo, Ioannidis and Suárez
Substitutes
Virgínia, Reis, Morita, Kochorashvili, Blopa, Alisson, Ribeiro, Gonçalves and Couto
One change to the starting XI as Vagiannidis replaces the suspended Fresneda who picked up his fifth yellow card against Vitória during the week. His absence allows for Mauro Couto to join the matchday squad from Sporting B.
Rio Ave starting XI
1 Miszta, 6 Abbey, 32 Brabec, 23 Petrasso, 3 Athanasiou, 10 Liavas, 5 Ntoi, 20 Tome, 80 Pohlmann, 14 Zoabi and 18 Spikic
In the markets
Sporting CP 1/9
Draw 6/1
Rio Ave 16/1
First half
Following Benfica's draw away to Sporting Braga the lions with a chance to extend their lead on the neighbours and close the gap temporarily at least to Porto in first. Sotiris Sylaidopoulos already without top scorer Clayton has opted to bench André Luiz for this game. The two players combined have scored 79% of the teams goals. Just two other players have found the net away from home, the defender Vrousai named amongst the substitutes and Spikic who starts. Given their record of 8 draws this season it's not hard to work out what the visitors game plan is likely to be over the course of the 90. Last time out at the José Alvalade the lions put six goals past bottom side AVS. The digital on screen graphics have the lions in a 4-4-2 and the visitors in a 3-4-3. We'll see how accurate those are.
The lions in their more traditional green and white horizontal stripes. Sporting start 1/18 to win now with the visitors a huge 20/1.
The visitors get us underway, the lions will attack right to left
1 Vagiannidis finds Araújo in the centre, his shot blocked from 8 yards, the ball fell to Suárez who got a shot away whilst falling backwards which went wide of the far post and only narrowly missing Araújo who'd remained in the centre
3 Sporting sat in a 2-5-3 for now, Rio Ave in a 5-4-1
4 Good work from Simões on the left to hold off the attention of two Ave players
6 Ntoi wide open in the centre tries from 27 yards and puts the safety of fans in the stand behind at risk as he fires high over the bar
7 Mangas tries from 29 yards with an effort even worse than Ntoi’s a minute earlier. Both might have a big future as kickers in the NFL
10 Araújo brings a save from 11 yards, Mangas follow up shot blocked for a corner. In the build up Trincão hit by an earthquake that threw him up off the floor and across the area. Either that or he took a tumble in the box and should have been blocked for simulation
12 Araújo held off by the last man after a flick on from Ioaniddis. Suspicion he was offside anyway
13 Araújo pulled to the ground wide left by Tomé. He's clearly enjoying his role up front as he has more licence to roam
14 Araújo's free kick headed clear and the danger passes for the visitors
15 Mangas opens his right foot up and dollies a catch for Miszta from 10 yards. He holds his head in his hands and so he should
16 Sporting hold onto the ball and virtually stand still as Ave sit in a 5-3-2 in a Mexican standoff. Who'll blink first
17 Ave break with Tomé who opts to cut back onto his other foot and found himself with 3 defenders in his way. He'd have been better trying to fire a shot across goal low to the far post
20 Six attempts to the lions already but nothing to show for their efforts. As always it's not the total attempts but who they've fallen to that's important and in the case of Mangas you'd ask him not to take anymore shots tonight on the evidence of his 3 attempts so far
23 Simões the water carrier as he drives across the pitch and tries to link up with Vagiannidis far right. The youngsters had a good opening to the half
25 Araújo with a wonderfully whipped ball in from the left wing found Suárez whose shot drilled into the ground and up into the arms of Mistza from 7 yards
27 Hands on head once more as Suárez's header lands on top of the net from 11 yards. Araújo again with a beautiful ball in to find the Colombian
28 Araújo flicks the ball on inside the area but there's no one behind him in support. Ave living a charmed life at the back
29 Araújo the beneficiary of a soft decision by the referee as he gives the ball away inside the Sporting half and goes down under a challenge after he'd let go of the ball
30 Trincão picks out Mangas whose shot is blocked by the body of Miszta from 3 yards out who'd rushed off his line and made himself as big as possible. Incredibly that's his fourth attempt in the opening half hour
32 Corner near side for the lions
33 GOAL Sporting CP 1 Rio Ave 0. Finally the deadlock is broken by Luis Suárez who chests the ball home from 2 yards from Simões flick on. Miszta clatters into the Colombian and claims an injury, whether that's in hope or genuine pain only he'd know
34 Inácio and Zoabi have a coming together and Inácio is shown the yellow card. The forward went down clutching his face. Not sure why because there was no contact with the face as proven on the slowed down on the replay. Gonçalo clearly unimpressed with the shove in the back prior to that which sent him flying stood up and stupidly lent in with his head
36 Corner near side to the lions
37 Yellow to Tomé who caught Araújo with a late challenge
38 The lions with another corner nearside. Ave clear easily for the second time in under two minutes winning the battle in the air both times
42 Second attempt for the visitors off target but still brings a save low to Silva's right. Spikic with the attempt from just outside the box. Replay suggests he may have played it onto the foot of Hjulmand which is why it ends up dribbling towards the keeper
44 Athanasiou tries from distance and when I say distance I mean distance. I'd assumed that was a back pass with one eye typing one eye on the game. I know men cannot multitask
Plus one shown
45 Tomé accidentally stands on the foot of Mangas
Half time
Sporting CP 1 Rio Ave 0
The positive is that the lions seem to be able to adapt to any system they're asked to play at the moment, the problem is that the wrong players appear to benefit from the changes whilst others begin to suffer. There won't be many games whereby Mangas has the most attempts of any player in a half but the fact that Ioannidis is yet to register a single attempt and neither has Trincão will give you an idea of where I'm trying to go with that. The goal wasn't pretty but they all count. Sporting with a ratio of 4:1 in terms of attempts. You have to imagine that the visitors bring Luiz on in the second half at some point to try and get something from the game. To do so they'll need to commit bodies forward which they they've failed to do so far this match. Araújo has continued his fine form and Simões has looked effective on the ball. Vagiannidis started well on the right but the more the game went on the ball started to come through other areas. The defence won't have had many easier nights to date.
Second Half
The visitors with two players stripped and warming up at half time as they look to find a way back onto this game. No surprise to see André Luiz is one, Vrousai the other. Ave stood waiting for the lions to reappear for the second half. They look like their having a mother's meeting as they wait in the entrance before finally making their way up the stairs. They'd have a long wait now if they were waiting for Christmas.
➡️⬅️ Luiz and Vrousai for Tomé and Zoabi
The lions get us back underway.
45 Ball played back to Quaresma who I'd forgotten was even playing
45 Sporting win a corner far side. Headed clear too easily again
46 Poor pass from Vagiannidis who loses the ball and needs Quaresma to dig him out of a hole
48 Luiz goes down in the box. Quaresma dispossessed the Brazilian who I should mention is rapid in full flight. Coates would have to have a 20 yards headstart in a foot race
49 Great tackle to dispossess Araújo and whoever it was followed it up with a nutmeg. One for the YouTube reel
49 Suárez holds his marker off and chips a ball into the six yard box that evades Nelson and Ioannidis. Great work by the Colombian to use his strength and create a chance from nothing
50 Sporting's last man other than Silva is 12 yards inside the Rio Ave half as they look to squeeze the visitors and find that all important second goal
52 Better from Vagiannidis as he picks out Simões in the centre and the ball quickly transitions from right to left wing
52 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Rio Ave 0. Superlative from Araújo as he rounds the keeper and slots home off balance from 4 yards into the bottom right hand corner
54 Ave claiming for a penalty again and the referee uninterested. Luiz it was who again went to ground far too easily under pressure from Mangas
56 Suárez did all the hard work, turned his marker to find space but his shot from ten yards hit the foot of the defender and out for a corner
57 Big save from Miszta. Araújo flying down the left found Ioannidis in the centre who looked sure to make it 3 from 8 yards but again the keeper kept his side in it with a great block
58 Corner near side for the lions
59 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Rio Ave 0. Suárez scores his second of the game heading home the Trincão corner from 5 yards
60 GOAL Sporting CP 4 Rio Ave 0. Finally the Colombian has his first match ball. Hjulmand won the ball back outside the area. Trincão saw his shot from 8 yards palmed away straight to Suárez who tapped into an empty net from 6 yards
62 ➡️⬅️ Spikic for Aguileira
63 ➡️⬅️ Araújo, Simões and Hjulmand for Alisson, Kochorashvili and Morita
65 Luiz is down in the box again. Perhaps they need to put up one of those yellow signs you see for spillages in supermarkets to warn him about whatever it is he keeps falling on
67 Suárez rounds the keeper but runs out of pitch and the ball goes out for a goal kick
67 ➡️⬅️ Reis for Inácio and the Brazilian takes the captains armband. Poor old Gonçalo must have worn it for all of 3 minutes
68 Kochorashvili has had his locks trimmed making him look like Sporting have a new signing before the winter window has even opened. Not quite Trincão but not far off
71 Vagiannidis clearly shoved in the back under the nose of the assistant who doesn't raise his flag to the disbelief of the Greek
72 Trincão shot inside the D deflects for a corner. Alisson was flying down the left, picked out Ioannidis who laid it off first time for the Portuguese. Lions dominating this half again sniffing out a fifth goal
74 Vagiannidis picks out Suárez whose header this time from 8 yards into the ground bounces up nicely for the keeper
74 Wolf whistles from the home fans behind Silva's goal as a shot from 25 yards sails into the stands. Petrasso it was with the attempt and that's his last involvement in the game
75 ➡️ ⬅️ Liavas and Petrasso for Lomboto and Graca
76 Mangas smashes another attempt wide from ten yards after great work from Suárez in the centre. That came from a dinked pass over the defence from Morita. The Colombians first touch was poor but his drag back surrounded by three defenders kept the move alive and he unselfishly picked out Mangas with good awareness of his teammate
77 ➡️⬅️ Gonçalves for Ioannidis
79 Great ball from Morita again finds Vagiannidis inside the box who tries a flick back but the defender clears the danger
82 Shot from 24 yards blocked by a flying Kochorashvili in the area. Aguileira with the attempt which is only the fifth for the visitors all of which have been from outside of the box
83 Ntoi goes down in the centre of the pitch. His leg tattoo certainly more impressive than anything else we've seen from Rio Ave tonight
85 Reis and Luiz have a battle of Brazil out on the left wing, the skipper wins out and clears the ball
86 Corner nearside to the visitors. Pretty sure that's their first of the night with less than 5 to play. Lions clear easily
88 Kochorashvili fires wide of the near post from 17 yards
Plus three indicated
90 Alisson fires low from 20 yards, on target but straight at the keeper
+2 Trincão feels the force of Aguileira’s arm into the face but unlike some players we've seen this season, he doesn't make anything of it other than a rub of the cheek.
Full time
Sporting CP 4 Rio Ave 0
The Final Word
So as it stands Sporting two points behind Porto who play the bottom side AVS tomorrow so baring a Christmas miracle the gap will be back up to five soon enough. However they've opened up a five point gap of their own to Benfica. Forty six goals to date for the lions with one game to come before the halfway stage of the campaign. Paulinho offers to put the match ball in his basket but Suárez is clearly not going to let it out of his sight and who can blame him?
The visitors performance was reminiscent of their second leg in last season's Taça when they knew they'd already effectively been beaten. On nights like these it's hard to ascertain whether the lions were really superb on the night or was it because the visitors were so poor. The truth is somewhere to be found in-between and subjective all the same. What's beyond any doubt is just how easy a win it was. Five attempts across the 90 for Rio Ave all from distance and the one save Silva made was off target anyway. You'd have to ask their coach why he chose to start with Luiz on the bench and it will have been a blessing for Sporting because the lad is rapid and if the second half game plan was to hit the lions on the counter attack and utilise that weapon they'd have stood a better chance doing it from the off rather than let the lions confidence grow with every passing minute.
If in the first half the ball kept landing at the feet of the wrong player it certainly didn't in the second half and Sporting could have had six goals or more were it not for Miszta in goal. He came off his line to great effect to deny Mangas and Ioannidis in either half.
Luiz Suárez will have dreamt of scoring his first hat-trick for the lions and I'm sure in his mind it will have looked better than how it was finally achieved. The first was smart thinking on his part to chest the ball home, the second a simple header and the third a tap in from six yards into an empty net. Seeing how he clung onto that ball at full time like he was six years old protecting it in the play ground from a group of bullies you can be certain he doesn't care though. He's missed more big chances than any other player in the league this campaign to date and needs far too many opportunities to score if we're all being honest here. Yet if he stays fit there's a good chance he'll end up costing Sporting another half a million euros if he pips Pavlidis to be the top scorer. A price that will be worth paying if we can overtake Porto at the top between now and the end of the campaign. Three goals against Rio Ave is all great and good but goals in games like the Clássico are where they'll count the most.
Rio Ave did at least venture over the halfway line in the second half and when they did they found Quaresma more than up to the task as he continues in Diomande's absence whilst he warms the bench once more in the African Cup of Nations. I'll have to check if he came on at any stage but you've got to feel for him because their coach clearly doesn't fancy him but still selects him almost as a punishment. You imagine once this current coach is done that he'll have a long career at international level but I share in his frustrations and he'll have to find his rhythm upon his return which is to the detriment of both club and player.
For all the plaudits under Amorim, this iteration of Sporting appears to be far more adept under Borges than it ever was under his tenureship. Another shift in formations, another fluid performance on the pitch with players swapping in and out of roles with consummate ease. His doubters must be dwindling in numbers with every 90 minutes that pass, not that I've ever been one of them I hasten to add. I find him highly impressive as a coach and as a man off the field. His humility especially compared to the misters of Benfica and Porto is evident and he's a credit to this club and long may we continue to evolve under his leadership. Lets hope someone sets his release clause higher than €10m of the mister Amorim's to discourage any potential suitors down the line.
We had great cameo appearances from Morita and Alisson. The Japanese defender with two wonder passes into the area causing Ave's defence all sorts of issues and the Brazilian looked back to his best tonight no doubt aware of rumours that Sporting are once more looking to bring in a winger. His pace is evident, his ability to then slow down the possession is fantastic and when he plays like that he looks like a great option. Even his shooting tonight was much better but consistency is what he's really lacking right now. Keep bringing those levels every week and take your opportunities when they're presented. Rui Borges is a man used to dealing with headaches welcomed or not as the case may be.
Ioaniddis certainly was more involved second half and provides that focal point in and around the area to play clever little passes off of. Vagiannidis got better as the half progressed and when he gets his cross right they're hugely effective but like Alisson he seems to be missing that level of consistency, but both players continue to grow and adapt to new surroundings which is the key thing. Trincão also had more involvement helped by Araújo's early departure, him dropping deeper to get more involved and Sporting swapping the focus of play to the right wing in the second half. Simões looked back to his best tonight and his performances when at that level allow Hjulmand to put on his slippers and make sure he is in the right place to benefit from forced errors and it's the skipper who wins the ball back outside the box and plays Trincão in for the shot that came off the keeper and back to Suárez to claim his match ball. The youngster also with the assist for the opening goal and Trincão gets one for the corner that Suárez headed in.
So I guess really that just leaves the four votes for man of the match. Maxi Araújo was fantastic again tonight. He is turning into the real superstar of this team. Another goal to add to his growing tally, you have to think Sporting would be better off investing in another left sided wing back and let him play in a floating roll because he was causing carnage everywhere across the final third. A superb finish for his goal and even coming off early a decent shout for man of the match. Considering I'd forgotten Quaresma was even playing until minute one of the second half it may come as a surprise that he's choice number two but when I did notice him he certainly stepped up to command the defence and according to the stats completed the most passes in the game. Who knew, certainly not me. He's definitely giving Borges a headache for when Diomande returns. The Ivorian wasn't used having just checked but his international last appearance came as a left back and the player in that position scored an own goal in a 1-1 draw so fuck you very much to their coach. Anyways this isn't a Cote d'Ivoire v Cameroon blog post. Choice three goes to Simões for an Oscar winning performance in Everywhere all at once. He covered every blade of grass, happy and comfortable in possession of the ball even when there were two or three red shirts around him. I've watched a lot of Mateus Fernandes in recent weeks and it hurts watching him at West Ham but Simões softens that blow and they're very similar players and you imagine they're going to match each other for development and both have big futures ahead of them. Final choice, who could it be? Ioannidis? Trincão? Hjulmand? No of course it has to be Luis Suárez who took his tally of goals for the season to 14 and added an assist for good measure. Strong on the ball and always able to fashion something from nothing, it was the fact he actually passed the ball tonight that really caught my attention and the penny seems to be dropping that it doesn't matter who scores the goals, it's the winning of titles that counts. If he keeps dragging defenders and keepers away to create space it can only be beneficial long term. Add to that if he gets decent supply from both flanks when he's in space himself he clearly is the man you want on the end of chances even if he's guilty of needing far too many. You certainly want them to fall to him over Mangas, let's be fair. Part of me wants to give it to Araújo and had he gone off with five minutes to go rather than half an hour I probably would. However it seems churlish not to give it to Suárez.
Gil Vicente next up for the lions and that will see in the end to the first half of the season.
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