Sporting CP 3 AVS Futebol SAD 2 (Taça de Portugal)

Sporting CP v AVS Futebol SAD
Thursday February 5th, 2026
Taça de Portugal Quarter Finals
Estádio José Alvalade 

The warm up

You'd have been forgiven for thinking after the first week in January that the month was going to be for all intents and purposes somewhat of a write off. Two dropped points away to Gil Vicente was swiftly followed by defeat in extra time in the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga, beaten by the eventual winners Vitória SC. League games against struggling Casa Pia and Arouca on paper whispered the promise of six points in the bag in what is increasingly looking like a battle for runners up spot with the neighbours. The prospect of welcoming PSG the current European Champions daunting to put it mildly and last, but not least, a trip to Spain where the lions had never won a competitive game in their entire history to take on Athletic Club in Bilbao.

Sporting put to bed the disappointment of the first two games with a routine 3-0 win over Casa Pia with a brace from Geny who was retuning from the African Cup of Nations with Mozambique and Daniel Bragança who himself was returning from the ACL injury that had kept him sidelined for the best part of twelve months. Some good news to match a good result.

What happened on the night of January 29th, 2026 at the José Alvalade is now written into the pages of folklore of Sporting Clube de Portugal and those of Lisboa and probably Portugal as a whole to match. The Parisians had descended upon the capital with their drums pounding, smoke bellowing freely like a new French Pope was about to be announced. The air thick with expectation, from the French of certain victory and from the Portuguese that there was a huge possibility they were about to have their arses handed to them on a plate. One side started with Ricardo Mangas in their XI, the other with Dembélé the current Ballon D'or. The lions must have thought they were at sea for the opening 45 minutes as they were rolled from one side of the turf to the other and back again for good measure. Somehow, they weathered the storm through good grace and the benefit of VAR to go into half time at 0-0. Everyone drew a deep breath and held onto whatever of their nerves that weren't already frayed.

The Champions changed tact. Gone were the constant attacks like a swarm of never-ending wasps in a pub garden on a hot summer's day hell bent on helping themselves to whatever was on offer. It became a game of call my bluff, let the lions have the ball and we'll wait and capitalise on their mistakes at the back and travel home victorious that way. If that was the script then they forgot to give Sporting a copy at half time who then went and did the unthinkable and took the lead through Luis Suárez in the 73rd minute. For five glorious minutes the fans in the stadium and watching at home were allowed to dream… and then… a Georgian magician by the name of Kvaratskhelia smashed the ball home with such ease that you could well believe he was more than capable of doing it blindfolded. Still, you could rightly reason that a draw against the European Champions would still be a huge result. We'd taken the moral victory in München even if Bayern had taken all three points. One more step on the path to growth on the biggest stage. The message one that they're here to compete even if they're not yet quite ready, the gap in quality too big to conquer for now, but maybe, just maybe, their day would come. To follow twelve long minutes plus any additional time. Minutes that with each one passing felt more like an hour. Slowly we watched the clock ticking down. PSG had introduced Gonçalo Ramos with twenty minutes to go. You knew in your heart of hearts when the knife went in and twisted and killed your hopes and dreams that it was going to be the ex-Benfica man with his hands on the blade. Yet as agonisingly slow as each minute came and went, the winner still didn't materialise for the French. Maybe, just maybe the lions would claim a huge point overall?

Some claim that VAR has ruined the modern game, that it's taken the joy out of goal celebrations. Well with Portugal being a small country they've clearly never been deemed important enough to be cc'd into that email. We'd seen Hjulmand like a man possessed by a demon in the Azores as he celebrated a winning goal against Santa Clara. There were limbs in the away end as the kids would call it. No one waited for the goal to be checked, they just simply got on with the business of celebrating. The outpouring of emotion, the rush of blood to the body achieved when the needle hits above 100 mph having seconds earlier been sat idle at 0. So it stood to reason when Luis Suárez decided that it was Colombia that would provide the assassin this particular night, that the green and white half of Lisboa would go wild with an outbreak of hysteria. Rui Borges, the mister known for his calm demeanour was up and running down the touchline, somewhere in a bar in Lisboa there will have been men throwing away their crutches, a modern miracle had cured them as they rose to their feet. Bodies fell on top of bodies like they were being felled by a machine gun. It was total carnage. Sporting were about to do the unthinkable. Everyone held their breath for the final whistle. Not being Olympic aquatic athletes they expelled and held another and another and another until finally the final whistle blew and you'd be forgiven at that moment for thinking maybe there is a God after all and tonight they were adorned in green and white. Sporting had won maybe their most famous victory in their illustrious history. Luis Enrique exclaimed in his post match interview that football was a shitty game. The lions had rattled his cage well and truly, pissed on his chips and stolen the jam out of his doughnut just to compound his misery. Whatever happens this season you won't take away beating PSG or ever, it's there now recorded in the annals of history for all of time.

After a high always follows a comedown, any drug addict knows that whatever their choice of poison. If your poison is Sporting at least in recent seasons you could claim that there are worst drugs, yet a drug is a drug all the same. Off to take on the lobos, a side that had been swept away by the largest scoreline this season in Portuguese top flight to date in Lisboa with the lions running up an easy 6-0 scoreline. Incidentally that scoreline has occurred twice, the other against AVS at the José Alvalade. Luis Suárez the breaker of Parisian hearts in midweek scored not long after the hour mark to give Sporting a 1-0 lead. Then they retook to the field with their legs possibly burning from lactic acid after all their efforts of the previous Tuesday in Lisboa. Or possibly they had one eye on the following Wednesday night and their trip to Bilbao. Whatever their excuse they received a black eye pretty much from the restart as the wolves equalised before the lions halftime oranges had even had a chance to reach their stomachs. They weren’t as bad as they were in the 2-2 in the José Alvalade the previous February, but in truth they weren’t much better either. The weather certainly wasn’t helping them as the rain continued unabated. Football as we all know relies on a side taking its chances when presented to them. Arouca had failed to do it 11 months previous and they failed again here. Remember what I said about Portugal failing to get the email about VAR ruining goal celebrations? Well cut to Luis Suárez diving onto the sodden pitch like a prime Jürgen Klinsmann in additional time having steered his second headed winner in the space of two games to give the lions an unlikely 3 points. This time there had been no mistakes, no long back passes from St Juste that ended up in the net via a Rui Silva touch, no pointless sending’s off and 1 point had trebled into 3. It had certainly been a big five days for the Sportinguista’s to remember even if they may choose to blot large parts of both games from their minds and concentrate instead on both endings of each game.

One last fixture remained, that of Athletic Club in Bilbao, matchday 8 of the Champions League. Sporting as I’ve already mentioned had never won in Spain. They have a long history of being able to shoot themselves in the foot in European Competition, the list of opponents names who they’ve done it against a long one and pretty much clubs of every European nation have benefited. European football seems to give them an anxiety which would make you believe they had never, ever played football together on the same pitch. It’s always the hope that kills you so I tried to keep my hope to a minimum. I glanced at the table, I knew that Sporting would not only need to win to get a top 8 finish but an awful lot of other results to go their way in addition. I didn’t bother to try do the maths or work out the permutations. Then I got lulled into that false sense of security. Fans had been telling me all week, we’re going to win. I told them all, please I will be happy for you to tell me - I told you so, after the final had blown. I will be overjoyed to have been proven wrong. Then I saw the Athletic Club line up and I was in too. Swept away on the feeling that yes, Sporting could win, Mr bookmaker take my money, in fact have some more, and some more and some more. So of course we went behind with 2 minutes on the clock. That was clearly my fault for the second, third and fourth bets as I spread my money around. I’m sorry. It felt like it didn’t take long for that dream to be over. Still we had the PSG win, you couldn’t take that away from us and money is just... Well money. We were dreadful in the opening of the game but incredibly we equalised with our 1 and only chance of the half through a bullet header from Diomande. Game on… until it wasn’t. Reis’ mistake wasn’t as catastrophic as the one mentioned above by St Juste, but it was punished all the same and it was Athletic Club who went in at half time leading 2-1 and on course for the knockouts. I don’t fully know what the connotations were at that juncture and who needed what to finish where but I would hazard a guess that if Athletic had of won, they’d have finished above Benfica who were busy taking on Spanish footballing royalty in the Portuguese capital.

If the anxiety had fallen upon the José Alvalade the week previous it seemed even thicker in the Cathedral of San Mamés. Even leading 2-1 you could tell their fans were like ours, all clearly thinking we’ve seen it all before, they were just waiting for it to be thrown away. How right they were too as first Trincão brought the game level at 2-2. Sporting had a goal disallowed, a penalty awarded and overturned. From the 21st minute of my minute by minute I was stating that this was a game tailor made for the Brazilian Alisson Santos, surely any idiot could see that if this idiot could? Still his arrival didn’t come most likely hampered by the fact that Trincão had scored the equalising goal. Finally he came on in the 87th minute. It’s too late I said, far, far too late and not for the first time I was wrong, so very wrong, but so very happy to have been. I had been right to say the game was tailor made for him which it proved to be. He shouldn’t have been the hero at all. That glory was at the feet of Luis Suárez who was charging in on a 1 on 1 with their goalkeeper Unai Simon. You know what they say, never trust a man with two first names. They’re also starting to say never trust Luis Suárez to score in those types of situations. He lost his footing, or maybe it was his composure or maybe it was both, gets his shot away but straight at Simon. The winner was there for the taking… you could feel the zipper on your heart starting to tug and come away in two. Alisson had other ideas however, the man who finishes with the celebration like a crouched surfer could clearly see how the waves needed to be ridden, stepping calmly like he had the help of Hiro in the TV show Heroes and the very fabric of time and space was being slowed down just for him, he manoeuvred himself to find the space to rifle home from 16 yards and the zip went straight back up, hearts completed again, well Sporting hearts at least. Those of Bilbao had been broken and stamped upon with cruel mercy. Sporting had done the seemingly impossible with a third winning goal at the death in as many games. Rui Borges was off down the touchline again, once more the bodies piled up but at the end of it all, one Brazilian would sit crouched alone. The tigers clearly now well hidden as the stands had emptied, he was the dragon in aquamarine that remained, or whatever colour Nike claim that kit to be made in. It doesn’t matter. I was busy celebrating the win, I genuinely had no idea at that point that they had leapfrogged up into 7th place. The American broadcasters had decided that what every Sporting fan clearly wanted to see was their celebrations interrupted by the coverage of their biggest rivals still playing and winning against Real Madrid. I’m already typing my post match summary up and not paying any attention, it’s just noise in the background. Someone is saying why are Benfica wasting time when they need another goal to qualify. Clearly they had no idea. I remember feeling amused. Someone must have gotten the message though because they sent the keeper  Trubin up, not ten minutes after I said the game had gone when they didn’t let Athletic’s keeper Simon go up for a corner. It’s the unwritten rule of football that keeper’s should always be allowed up late on with a chance to become the hero. Benfica it transpired had already done us a huge favour by almost beating Real Madrid and just needed to hang on. Sporting in beating Athletic had inadvertently handed them the chance to get into the play offs if they could just find the fourth. I looked up to see Trubin head into the net and I knew at that point I’d clearly been taking some great quality hallucinogenics that night. Yet still I didn’t have a clue we’d landed a top 7th spot. That was still about ten minutes away. Late to the party as always. Incredibly we’d done just that. What a month January had turned out to be after all. In Lisboa, in Portugal, in Europe, we don’t wait for VAR, we celebrate, celebrate like our lives depend on it. Boy did we do some celebrating in the space of 8 days. They say Rui Borges doesn’t win the big games…

So now we welcome February. It’s got a lot to live up to after last month's action. Before this game a league game against Nacional to navigate on Sunday night in the Liga. Then Thursday night we welcome AVS in the Taca de Portugal. It’s another famous footballing cliché that when teams are struggling in the league, the cup competitions can provide them with a welcome rest bite from their troubles and for AVS this certainly seems to fit the bill. Their last game at the time of writing was a creditable 3-3 draw away to fellow strugglers Casa Pia as they overturned a 3-0 scoreline to come away with an unlikely point. Yet ahead of their game away to Sporting Braga on Monday night before this forthcoming fixture is played, they are still the only side in Portuguese top flight football still to have won a single game. Maybe they beat Braga at home on Monday to break that duck. Most likely they won’t but stranger things have happened. They drew 2-2 with them in August, I remember that much because I had money on Braga to win. I’ll never learn but enough of my bad beat stories, back to AVS who have time and time again this season really been on the end of bad beat stories. In the league their record ahead of their Braga fixture reads played 19, won 0, drawn 5, lost 14, GF 14 and GA 47. Unsurprisingly they remain rooted to the bottom of the division having picked up just the 5 points and yet are still only 7 behind Tondela and 10 behind Casa Pia. They’re like two children waiting for a younger sibling to stop dawdling behind and finally catch up.

The thing is cup football is a very different beast to league football. Pardon my French but shit happens. Shit happens all the time. The expectation and onus is fully on the lions to progress. They were supposed to book their ticket to the Taça da Liga final against Vitória but forget to have it stamped and validated and were thrown off that train and fell to their knees as it pulled out of the station as they could only watch as it left them behind. Sporting should have learned their lessons but in football you never know. 

The lions huffed and puffed their way through extra time in round 3 to finally beat Paços de Ferreira in a game I think if memory serves me correctly they would record 39 attempts on goal over the 120 minutes, so roughly one every 3 minutes on average. Twice they had to come from behind against lower league opposition with goals from Gonçalves and Ioaniddis. In the end the killer blow came in extra time from an own goal. Football once more proving the cruellest of mistresses for smaller sides. 

AC Marinhense were swept away easily enough in round 4 with a 3-0 win at the José Alvalade. Trincão scored a brace and Luis Suárez put the icing on the cake. They made harder work of round 4 in the Azores finally overcoming Santa Clara 3-2. If the league game brought with it the controversial corner that never was that Sporting scored the additional time winner in, then this game brought with it even more controversy. I've already written above that VAR hasn't spoiled Sporting's goal celebrations yet. Well at least not in the last three games. My love for you is like a 90th minute winner - so says graffiti on a wall apparently somewhere scrawled in Italian as I heard this week on a podcast. It seemed very apt. Round 4 brought possibly the longest VAR check in history. I'm almost surprised it's not still ongoing. Technically Luis Suárez equalised in the 90th minute plus sixteen, Ioannidis scored the winner in the 97th minute. Do the maths on that one if you will folks. Yes, a quirk of how times are written down I'll grant you that. Simões had opened the scoring. 1-1 at half time, a Silva goal five minutes from time had the lions, the holders of the trophy, bowing out in defeat. Then came the VAR check, the equaliser, the half an hour extra time and Sporting had booked their place in the quarter finals. We even know that a place against Porto awaits if we can get through this round and then a final against either AD Fafe or Torreense. Yet we've 90 minutes of football to get through first against a side that is about to potentially go down as the worst ever in top flight Portuguese football. 

For AVS their run to the quarter finals started in much easier fashion. For a side who couldn't buy a goal in the top flight they put 7 past lowly Fornos de Algodres in a 7-0 away win in round 3. Spencer opened the scoring and would later complete a brace. Lima, Barbosa, Lourenco, Kodisang and Afonso all like kids in the sweetshop helping themselves to goals. The home side not helped by going down to ten men earlier in the second half which would see AVS go on to add 5 goals to their 2-0 half time lead.

Round 4 proved to be trickier. Again 7 goals but this time all from the penalty spot. After a 0-0 draw at the end of the 90 and extra time unable to seperate them, AVS finally overcame Academico Viseu 7-6 on penalties at home to progress. Round 5 away to Vitória SC but where the lions failed, the birds triumphed and won 1-0 away with a goal from Akinsola to book their trip to Lisboa in the quarter finals.

In a bid to avoid relegation AVS have been busy in the transfer market. In late October they picked up former Sporting player Ruben Semedo as a free agent, then added Carlos Ponck to their ranks in early November. With the winter window now open Adriel Ramos came in on loan from Gremio and Roni from Mirassol for a fee of £1.2 million. They've also been clearing the burning decks 9 players shown the door since the 5th of January.

So can the side from Vila das Aves cause another cupset? January brought us all proof that anything is possible having ourselves beaten PSG and Athletic Club in the Champions League. February as I have already written, has a lot to live up to.

Monday update - Alisson Santos' parting gift as a lion was the assist for the late Luís Suárez winner against Nacional as he puts pen to paper on a deal with the current Italian Serie A Champions SS Napoli. An initial loan will net Sporting €3.5m with an option to buy for €16.5m and a 10% sell on clause. I've genuinely not felt this gutted since Rafael Leão rescinded his contract. I'm hoping desperately to see something in Luis Guilherme that I never saw in the colours of West Ham. Napoli have got themselves a bargain. José Silva has joined Arouca on loan until the end of the season in their bid to avoid relegation 

Sporting B

Sporting B v Oliveirense

February 1^st, 2026
Matchday 20

Starting XI

Callai, J.Silva, Muniz, Ramos, Moreira, Justo, Rayan, Gonçalves, Anjos, Couto and Nel

Substitutes Used

Cardoso, Rômulo, Santos, Felicíssimo, Tanlongo

12 days short of his 31^st birthday Nuno Santos makes his Sporting B debut coming on as a second half substitute. After 6 straight league defeats the lions finally brought the run to an end with a first half goal from Gonçalves and Tanlongo with his first 2 minutes from time sealed all 3 points. 

Tuesday update - Pontelo, the forgotten man of the January 2024 winter transfer window has joined Farense on loan until the end of the season.

UEFA Youth League

Puskás FC Akadémia v Sporting CP 

Wednesday February 4th, 2026

Puskás Akadémia Pancho Aréna

Starting XI 

Gouveia, Mota, Taibo, Lee, Tomás, Felicíssimo, Bafdili, Costa, Gonçalves, G. Silva and Ferreira 

Substitutes Used 

Kissanga, Lopes, Almeida, Tverdohlebov and Mendes

The under 19s travelled to Hungary looking to keep their European adventure alive. Their numbers boosted by the loan of Gonçalves who had been promoted to the first team. They faced off against a side whose keeper is called Bozó which seems highly unfortunate but apt all the same as Gonçalves opened the scoring on 52 minutes. He took a free kick a couple of yards in from the left touchline on the marker for 24 yards from the goal line and it swung into the six yard box, missed everyone, bounced and past the hapless Bozó into the far right of the net. It was Gonçalves who could have made it 2-0 to the lions but he dragged his shot from just outside the right of the six yard box wide of the far post. 

On 65 minutes the Hungarians equalised as Attila Budai latched onto a long through ball to slot calmly home from 12 yards. The possibility of penalties clearly loomed large as Tverdohlebov replaced Gouveia in goal. I'm guessing that was the reason unless their was an injury. This is clearly how rumours and conspiracy theories start. On 90 minutes whilst Bozó had been living up to his name, the same couldn't be said of Máté Csiszár after he chopped down Gonçalves who by his reaction clearly said you're no friend of mine. See what I did there? Nice hey. Red card shown and Costa had to quite literally drag the incensed Flávio away from the Hungarian. 

So having made the change in goal, of course it was Bozó who would actually have the last day between the posts as in the 93rd minute he could only parry a close range header a la Rui Silva, straight to the unmarked Miguel Almeida who couldn't believe his good fortune and headed home the winner from a yard out to leave the final score Puskás Akadémia 1 Sporting CP 2.

In the markets

Sporting CP 1/14
Draw 9/1
AVS Futebol SAD 22/1

Team News 

Starting XI

Virgínia, Vagiannidis, Quaresma, Inácio, Mangas, Hjulmand, Kochorashvili, Trincão, Bragança, Guilherme and Suárez. 

Substitutes

Silva, Diomande, Araújo, Morita, Simões, Nuno Santos, Gonçalves, Geny and Faye.

Unsurprisingly given the opposition and with the Clássico on Monday, the mister Rui Borges rings the changes. Virgínia in for Silva, Vagiannidis for Fresneda, Inácio for Diomande and Mangas for Araújo. In the middle Hjulmand and Kochorashvili come in for Simões and Morita. Trincão and Bragança in for Gonçalves and Geny. Alisson has of course departed now for Naples. Nuno Santos makes his long awaited return to the matchday squad. No Ioannidis after the staff's medical department deemed the wet weather too high a risk. 

AVS Starting XI 

93 Bertelli

3 Vitor 

7 Tomané

8 Lima

12 Rivas

20 Duarte

21 Neiva

23 Mendonça

27 Algobia 

42 Devenish

70 Roni

First half 

The lions in white and green halves attack right to left. AVS get us underway. 

1 Early touch for Virgínia in goal who makes a better job of it than Silva's first touch against Nacional as he kicks to touch 

4 Virgínia awake to the danger of a through ball to Neiva in the lions box and quickly comes out to smother the danger 

4 Guilherme has started wide right. He flashes a cross low across the box which evades everyone  

4 Kochorashvili has a shot blocked from 22 yards wide left 

7 Trincão dances past his marker on the left and his ball into the six yard box is cut out for a corner far side 

8 Header in the centre from 4 yards goes over the bar from Inácio 

10 Tomané goes down feeling the effects of a challenge from Mangas 

11 Tidy little flick from Kochorashvili with the back of his heel onto the head of Trincão. One for the highlight reel 

11 Vagiannidis pass cut out for a corner far side

13 AVS settle into a 4-3-2-1 when defending at present but happy to have an extra defender to make a line of 5 when required 

13 Mangas finds the head of Suárez who heads over from 8 yards

14 First shot on target comes from the visitors 16 yards out from the left corner of the 18 yards box comfortably dealt with by Virgínia down low. Neiva with the effort 

15 Guilherme with a good run into the box sees his effort blocked from 11 yards by Vitor 

16 Cynical late challenge on Vagiannidis results in a yellow card to Neiva 

17 Poor from Kochorashvili who sees his free kick go straight out for a goal kick 

18 Rivas volley from 20 yards again dealt with by Virgínia. 

19 Mangas finds Trincão who scuffs his shot from 10 yards and it spins wide of the right post 

21 The lions still to have a shot on target compared to the visitors who've had 2 yet with an XG of 0.08

21 Debast and Fresneda amongst those watching on from the box

22 Vagiannidis wins another corner far side

23 Suárez plays the ball off a defender for what should have been a corner. Referee gives it the other way despite it hitting the Colombians left which was a good foot or more over the goal line out of play 

24 Close up of Bragança who I'd forgotten was even playing which isn't a good sign 

26 Good work from Quaresma who tidies up under pressure at the back 

26 Earthquake in Lisboa as Duarte falls to his feet

27 Suárez away on the left hand side of the box, beat the first man and got a shot away from the edge of the six yard box saved by the keeper. Ended up with Guilherme on the far side and his follow up effort was blocked. Finally a shot on target for the lions just shy of half an hour into the game 

28 GOLAZZO Sporting CP 1 AVS 0. The visitors left too much time and space at the back as Hjulmand's pass found the Brazilian who took one touch to open up the space on the edge of the right of the area and bent the ball in from 17 yards. As debut goals for your new club go, that's high on the list for quality. Caveats that with - it's still AVS

31 Having seen the visitors a couple of times this season they can unravel really quickly when going a goal down 

32 Everyone but Virgínia now camped inside the opposition half. 

33 Visitors are keeping a compact back 5. Must have been watching Nacional and happy for Sporting to have the ball out wide with a lack of quality on the crosses. This is going to mirror that game where the lions best chances will fall when AVS attack and leave the space. 

35 All ten outfield players for the visitors are bunched with a gap of no more than 15 yards front to back 

35 Warm applause as Nuno Santos sent to warm up 

37 Lima leaves his foot in on Vagiannidis who didn't look to impressed and Virgínia maybe unsure who got the last touch opted to head clear which you don't see often from a keeper 

38 Guilherme shown the yellow for simulation and I would say that's spot on from the referee as he goes over inside the box appealing for a penalty. Visiting defender might have got a finger under the bottom of his shirt at most and lifted it

39 Shot from a full 28 yards blocked. Think we'll label that under ambitious from Lima 

42 Bizarre free kick awarded against Trincão. Looked like the AVS midfielder lost his balance. Never a foul 

43 Vitor with what looked like a deliberate trip on Trincão to stop his run. Not sure how that's not a booking 

44 Sporting should be 2-0 up. First Suárez sees his shot saved by the leg of Bertelli. Bragança then puts the follow up onto the bar. Two lions got in the way of each other in the end and the chance goes begging. Suárez starts the move with a lovely flick to Trincão who gives and goes. It was the Colombian whose header back into the centre found Bragança and Kochorashvili who both went for the ball before the former hit the bar. 

Plus one shown 

Half time 

Sporting CP 1 AVS Futebol SAD 0

A wonder strike from Guilherme the difference at half time in a 45 minutes where the lions have rarely bothered to get out of first gear or break into a sweat. The XG 1.20 to 0.10 and 10 attempts to 3. 66.66% of the visitors attempts at least on target but that's about the only real credit you can give them. Suárez has gone close twice and as I always like to say if the visitors are going to get something from the game they're going to have to push bodies forward in the second 45 and Sporting with the difference in quality should make use of that to their advantage. Not much else to add apart from that other than can we not shoot ourselves in the foot and go into extra time please. 

Second Half 

The lions get us back underway. No changes at half time from either side. Ref cam trying to give me motion sickness. Whoever thought that was a good idea frankly needs shooting 

46 Shove in the back of Bragança by Vitor and he makes rather a meal of it 

47 Bragança goes down in the box after a first touch like a trampoline 

48 Lions playing keep ball whilst they wait for Bragança to get back on his feet

48 GOAL Sporting CP 2 AVS 0. Superb run from Mangas in from the left who picked out Suárez who repeats his trick from Nacional and finishes with a clever flick from 3 yards out that strikes Vitor and into the net. Might need the dubious goals panel to decide who gets it but for now it's been given as an own goal

51 Free kick conceded by AVS in the final third of the Sporting half as Suárez tries his hand at defending and gets a kick to the back of his calf as he beat the man for pace for his troubles 

52 Suárez with another audacious spinning effort from the edge of the six yard box which went wide but looked great all the same. 

53 Close up of Michael Crawford. Sorry Eduardo Quaresma. I wonder if he knows the words to the Phantom of the Opera?

54 Clever from Tomané who wins a corner near side off Vagiannidis. Wasted however as the lions defend their set pieces better than they take them 

56 ➡️⬅️ Triple substitution for the visitors. Tomané, Neiva and Duarte off. Tunde, Perea and Akinsola on

57 Suárez runs clear of his marker but smashes his shot well wide from 10 yards out 

59 Arm up from Hjulmand to block a shot from Algobia from 17 yards. VAR checking. My first thought was penalty. 

60 Referee runs to the monitor 

62 Referee confirms my suspicions and penalty awarded. Not sure why the referee didn't blow for it in real time it was right under his nose 

63 GOAL Sporting CP 2 AVS 1. No look penalty as Lima sends Virgínia left and the ball right 

65 Guilherme loses the ball outside the area and like Bragança in the first half I'd forgotten he was playing 

65 Quaresma slips and takes Rivas down who made the most of it and he's booked 

66 Perea sends the free kick straight at Virgínia. Did he have white hair before? 

66 Pathetic from Perea who goes down clutching his face. Fuck off man. He gets a finger tip from the hand of Vagiannidis into his face 

67 ➡️⬅️ Double change from the lions. Bragança and Kochorashvili off, Gonçalves and Simões on

68 We're treated to a replay finally of the Bragança incident. The defenders leg comes down in between his and he makes the most of the contact 

69 Vagiannidis shanks one into the stands from 20 yards like a man who knows I've got him 10/1 to score anytime

70 Good defending by Vitor who blocks a cross from Guilherme out for a corner with Suárez a yard behind 

72 Arctic Monkeys from Vagiannidis. I bet he looks good on the dance floor as he hot foots it into the area past blue shirts but his final pass cleared 

73 Corner near side to the lions causes confusion but AVS clear. Cheers as Nuno Santos is stripping and getting ready to come on 

74 Mangas cross cleared for a corner far side 

76 The José Alvalade rises to its feet. ➡️⬅️ Trincão off for Nuno Santos. The two meet in warm embrace on the sideline

76 He looks close to tears as we wait for the game to get back underway. 

77 Huge cheer for Santos' first touch back. His introduction has raised the volume inside the stadium 

78 ➡️ ⬅️ Tiago Fernandes on for Roni

79 Corner nearside to AVS. Rivas sends the ball goalwards from 20 yards high into the air and Virgínia claims 

80 Simões with time and space in the final hits and AVS player. They counter and Tunde spares his blushes as he shanks an effort into the stands from the right of the box 16 yards out into the stand behind Virgínia’s goal

81 Nuno Santos picks out Gonçalves who puts it over from 4 yards. Wouldn't have counted as the former was offside  

82 ➡️⬅️ Nene for Algobia. The 42 year old now an impact sub. Let's hope he doesn't make an impact 

82 Yellow shown to Vitor for hacking down Vagiannidis 

84 The Greek still down receiving treatment 

85 Suárez playing like someone is playing FIFA with him and pressing all the buttons quickly. Maradona drag back to start the move, finally ended in a blocked shot from 8 yards. He span, flicked and kicked.  Simões fires wide from 20 yards from the follow up

86 ➡️ ⬅️ Faye for Guilherme 

87 Suárez fires a shot from 7 yards straight at the keeper. His blushes spared as Nuno Santos a good 3 yards offside before he made the cross

87 Perea went down like a sack of shit in the box again 

87 Yellow shown for a foul on Faye to Lima

88 VAR is checking the Perea challenge. Referee has gone to the monitor. From the reverse Vagiannidis catches the calf of the player 

90 We're still watching the replay over and over. Perea plants his foot to allow for the contact behind from the Greek defender 

+1 Fuck me the referee has given it as well. 

+1 GOAL Sporting CP 2 AVS 2 as Nene goes for the same corner as the first penalty. I said don't let the impact sub make an impact. Why does no listen to me.  

Plus 11 indicated

+2 Well are we about to see a fifth straight additional time winner from the lions?

+4 Cramp from one of the AVS players. Really?

+5 Suárez kicked six feet in the air on the edge of the box. Stretcher on. That's never a good sign. 

+6 It's the defender on the stretcher which feels ironic given it was his appalling challenge that put both men down 

+7 AVS down to ten men having used all their subs. I think he's only avoided a red card there because he's been stretchered off. Baroan off presumably with some sort of break to the leg 

+8 I'm confused how did that end as a free kick to AVS? Like genuinely confused. That looked a horrendous tackle on the Colombian 

+10 No idea how long is actually left now. Close up of Gonçalves. Again I'd forgotten he was playing 

+11 Must still be a good 3 minutes to find a winner. AVS can I think make a substitution if it goes to extra time 

+11 Nuno Santos appeals for a penalty for a push in the back - referee of course uninterested 

+12 Referee cam shows a rather frustrated Nuno Santos still disputing the referees summarisation 

+13 VAR check ongoing. 

+14 No penalty. I think he said someone was offside. I think it's Faye wide right

+14 Perea fires a shot straight at Virgínia. Jesus that was a bum clencher 

+15 Simões fires a shot blocked from ten yards 

+15’34 Half finally comes to a close 

Full time 

Sporting CP 2 AVS Futebol SAD 2

What did I say at half time? Anything but additional time. It was like the kiss of death. Fuck me. 

First Half Extra time 

➡️⬅️ As I thought AVS allowed an extra change in extra time so no longer down to ten men as Grau comes on for Baroan. AVS kick off

94 ➡️ ⬅️ Araújo for Mangas

96 Suárez has the ball in the net from 8 yards out but the flag went up far side for offside

97 Check complete and it won't count. Yellow to Bertelli presumably for time wasting with the free kick

98 I'm really starting to wish I'd had a wee at the interval

99 Quaresma blocks inside the area after Perea had run from the half way line. Corner far side 

101 Yesterday my prediction was 2-1 after extra time to Sporting then going into the game I said it really could finish anything like … 3-2. I didn't say after extra time but I'd take it right now

103 Suárez header from 4 yards cleared 

104 Half time cannot come soon enough. If we score here I might be in trouble…. Poor pass from Inácio 

104 Corner won far side

Plus two shown

105 Gonçalves shot from 20 yards deflects for a corner 

+1 Hurry the fuck up. 

+1 Wild swing from Araújo from 25 yards into the stand

Half time extra time 

Sporting CP 2 AVS Futebol SAD 2 

Well the best part of that was I didn't wet myself. 

Second Half 

➡️⬅️ Geny for Vagiannidis. Sporting get us back underway

105 Araújo shot from 9 yards deflects for a corner 

106 Gonçalves with a wry smile as he smashes the ball into the stand from 19 yards 

107 I was reading through last seasons match reports and had gotten to AVS last February where we let a 2-0 lead slip to draw 2-2…

107 Point blank save as Geny found Suárez and he missed an open goal from a yard out as it went back across goal at Bertelli. Fuck me

109… anyway I was so angry that night I couldn't even bring myself to do a post match summary. Don't expect a long one tonight either whatever the result. How the fuck has Suárez missed that chance? He has about ten feet of open goal to score into. Harder would have chested it in 

110 AVS are playing for penalties here 

110 Man down with cramp. Quell fucking suprise. More time wasting from the visitors 

110 Man in the crowd losing his will to live

112 Simões shot pushed onto the bar and out for a corner 

114 Arm into the chest of Geny sends him flying off the pitch

114 Hjulmand caught somewhere he really didn't want to be if you catch my drift 

115 Bertelli already booked assuming he's not going to be given a second yellow for the same offense takes his time again for a goal kick 

116 GOAL. Bang! Golazzo Geny fucking Catamo. Sporting CP 3 AVS 2. He collected the ball wide right, charged into the box and pings it into the net from 16 yards 

117 I love that boy's smile. Geny once more winning the hearts and minds of Sportinguista's. He's been top drawer since his return from the African Cup of Nations 

118 Huge cheer as referee awards a free kick to the lions in their area as Nene cleared out Hjulmand 

Plus two shown 

+1 Beautiful from Quaresma as he goes on a run in midfield and is hacked down

+2 Nuno Santos chopped down and you can see he's visibly upset by that challenge and after a year out you can't blame him 

Full time 

Sporting CP 3 AVS Futebol SAD 2 

The final word

Well it's safe to say that we like to do things the hard way in this competition. Paços de Ferreira 3-2 after extra time. Santa Clara 3-2 after extra time. AVS Futebol SAD 3-2 after extra time. AC Marinhense… oh no wait that was 3-0. As you were. 

Jesus Christ that was shit. Final XG 3.56 to 2.18 of which 1.59 came from penalties for the visitor's. If you asked the question of whether Luis Suárez was better than Viktor Gyökeres or worse, you answered yes then I think you need to sit yourself down and have a little talk with yourself. Dear God. How he misses that chance from a yard out I have no idea. If it was a competition for a million euros to have hit the keeper he'd have found the net I'm convinced of it. It's just gone 23.47 here in the UK. I'm sure there's far better things I could have done with my evening than sit through that. I am if nothing else a glutton for punishment. 

I've no complaints about the first penalty. Night and day. The second one he plants his foot and waits for contact. He's walked up to the counter, slapped his money on there and said I'm buying a penalty and the referee stood behind said certainly Sir I'll be two minutes. 

Jesus let's just do four for man of the match. Christ that's going to be a stretch. Virgínia did nothing wrong in the game for me and I'm not going to blame him for the two goals conceded. Geny scores the winner and spared our blushes against the worst team in the top flight who have not won a game all season after twenty attempts. I'm letting that one sink in and to be fair to them there was a place in the semi finals at stake. But as confidence boosters for O Clássico go, only Porto will have been given a boost. Do you know what, Mangas impressed me tonight and he gets my third vote. I'm going to go Quaresma fourth vote and give my man of the match to Mangas. At least unlike last season's 2-2 I've given a round up having been so disgusted I couldn't even bring myself to do it a year ago.