Sporting CP v G.D. Estoril Praia

Sporting CP v G.D. Estoril Praia

Friday February 27th, 2026

Estádio José Alvalade

Matchday 24

The warm up 

There’s a strong case to be made that since the 27th of December, no side has been involved in more entertaining matches in the Portuguese top flight than Estoril. In fact you could make an equally strong argument that no side has been involved in more entertaining matches throughout the entire season than them. Although, maybe exclude the first meeting between them and the lions. Ian Cathro’s men finished 2025 with a 4-1 win over Alverca and then opened 2026 with a 3-1 away loss to Benfica. They thumped ten men Estrela away 5-0, then proceeded to smash Vitória at home 4-2 and Santa Clara by the same scoreline away and then at home to Tondela both sides had shared four goals before the half time whistle had blown. Not satisfied with that, they became the only side to lose to AVS this campaign on Matchday 22. Box office stuff indeed and never a dull moment. 

Star man of the campaign is the 24 year old forward Moroccan Yanis Begraoui who after 22 games played has found himself a goal off his best ever tally of goals for a campaign which he achieved in the 2019/20 season playing for Auxerre B when he scored 16 times in 15 appearances. Whilst at Auxerre he represented both the B side and first team over the four seasons with limited success other than the one just mentioned. Sold to Toulouse in 2021/22 he failed to score a single goal in 29 appearances for the first team though did score 8 in 6 for their B team. Sent to Pau in the French second division he averaged a goal every other game with 9 in 18. The 2023/24 season a frustrating one with 2 in 19 for Pau and 0 goals in 18 for Toulouse. It was in the summer of 2024/25 that he moved to Estoril where in his debut season he scored 11 in 35 games and contributed 3 assists and doesn’t look like he’s done with scoring this campaign either. Ahead of Sundays game at home to Gil Vicente he’s scored 15 goals in 22 games with 1 assist. 

Coach Ian Cathro continues to improve his reputation in Portuguese football and Estoril bucking the trend for changing coaches as so many sides have done the past two campaigns. This time around the first to go was Bruno Lage replaced by the ever cheerful José Mourinho at the neighbours. José Mota was sacked by AVS and Fábio Espinho came in as the interim coach. José Faria was sacked by Estrela and replaced by Luís Silva, again as an interim. AVS decided that João Pedro Sousa was the man to turn around their fortunes and Estrela went with João Nuno. Casa Pia dismissed João Pereira and Gonçalo Brandão came in as interim. Ivo Viera given the boot at Tondela, Cristiano Bacci appointed. AVS decided João Pedro Sousa wasn’t the man for the job after all and he was sacked. Portugal’s favourite Uncle Albert lookalike Álvaro Pacheco appointed full time at Casa Pia. 

The last time Estoril recorded a win against the lions in any competition came way back in October of 2018 in the Taça de Liga when an Andri Pinto own goal 9 minutes from time secured a 2-1 victory for them. Since then it’s been 9 straight defeats for them in all competitions. 

After the 1-0 home win to Famalicão, the mister Rui Borges became the first Sporting coach to win 13 straight games at the José Alvalade in 52 years. Alongside another clean sheet at home, the 2 attempts for the visitors was the lowest total recorded by any side after 37 games played in all competitions. The previous lowest was Nacional away with 3 and even lower league AC Marinhense achieved double the amount of efforts. No surprise to see online post game people questioning the foul on Araújo that led to the goal being disallowed. We’ll just ignore that it was offside in the initial play. Good job we've got the referees in our pocket. Would hate to have started that game without top goalscorer Luis Suárez having been given a yellow in the Clássico for passing the ball back to Bednarek in a show of sportsmanship. Oh no wait…

Ahead of their home game against Gil Vicente on Sunday night, Estoril go into the weekend 9th in the table. After 22 rounds their record reads won 8, drawn 6, lost 8, GF 43, GA 38. That's the same total goals scored as Porto atop the division. That's more goals per game than the lions (68). Their away record reads played 11 won 3, drawn 2, lost 6, GF 20, GA 22. Of their 43 scored - 23 from open play, 11 set pieces, 5 penalties and 4 own goals as they blow their Xg of 30.9 out of the water. Top scorer as already mentioned Bergraoui with 15, João Carvalho has 6, Marques 4 tied with our old friend own goal. The remainder shared between 9 others. 

Joint fourth highest goalscorers, sixth worst defensive record. Fifth highest average possession with 52.6%. Just 3 clean sheets to date, sixth highest average shots on target per game with 4.5. 28 big chances missed, seventh highest total. The lions up to 50 now in the league some 14 ahead of the nearest side Braga. Third for accurate long balls which means our defence needs to stay awake when keeping their obligatory high line. Only two sides have less accurate crosses per game - Moreirense and Rio Ave. Get it launched laddies. 

Five penalties awarded and a 100% conversion rate. Not only are they outperforming their Xg for goals scored but unsurprisingly also for Xg conceded with 38 to 34.3. Fourth for interceptions per match with 9.1. Clearly not enough in and around their 18 yard box. Only Benfica and Braga have committed less fouls although that being said it's probably only Braga and the dirty pigeons haven't had theirs called. 60 bookings the leagues third highest behind Casa Pia and Santa Clara. No red cards however. 

For more about the oppositions history and their locale please check out previous Sporting CP v Estoril Matchday posts on the site including the links to Ian Fleming's James Bond. 

A reminder of how their season was going before the 2 sides first met. Their campaign began with a 1-1 draw at home to Estrela having took the lead through Parente. They lost 3-2 away to Vitória having initially taken the lead through a Guitane goal. They found themselves 2-1 down and an Abascal own goal drew the two sides level on the hour mark. A Silva penalty converted in the 68th minute condemned Estoril to defeat. On the road to newly promoted Tondela they took the lead for a 3rd straight game but once more unable to find their first win of the season. Cavaleiro looked to have won the game for Tondela on the 90th minute but Guitane equalised two minutes later for a 2-2 draw. A 1-0 loss away to Santa Clara meant that Estoril had collected 2 points from a possible 12.

Their first win came at home to AVS 3-1 with goals from Lominadze, Carvalho and Sánchez putting them 3-0 up before the visitors scored a late consolation goal. A 2-0 loss to Gil Vicente away was the last fixture before the visit of the lions in which a Suárez goal after 11 minutes was enough to secure a 1-0 win. 

So after 7 games their record read won 1, drawn 2 and lost 4.

We pick up with their next game -

Matchday 8 – Casa Pia (A) Lominadze opened the scoring for the visitors on minute 13. Rocha equalised on 27 and Livolant made it 2-1. Carvalho equalised for Estoril 7 minutes before time to earn a point in a 2-2 draw. Estoril scored 2 of their 3 big chances, Casa Pia missed their only one. Final Xg 1.12 to 0.94 in the away teams favour.

Taça de Portugal 3rd Round - CF Os Belenenses (A). Pizzi put the visitors ahead after 26 minutes. Love made it 1-1 after 50 and the top flight side needed a Lacximicant winner four minutes into the additional time at the end of the 90 to progress through to Round 4.

Matchday 9 – Nacional (H) Vitor put the islanders ahead on 36. A Bergraoui penalty just before the hour mark secured both sides a point in a 1-1 draw. Xg1.74 to 1.47, 1 of 2 big chances missed by Estoril, 2 of 3 for Nacional.

Matchday 10 – Rio Ave (A) The home side reduced to ten men on 20 minutes when Panzo was given his marching orders. Estoril absolutely filled their boots on the day. Bergraoui scored on 40, 45+2 and a penalty on 69 to complete a hat-trick. Lacximicant scored the other in a 4-0 win. Rio Ave failed to create a single big chance, Estoril despite scoring 4 also missed 5 of 6 big chances. Final Xg 3.19 to 0.17.

Matchday 11 – Arouca (H) An incredible opening ten minutes for Fukui of Arouca as he opened the scoring on 4 and then equalised with an own goal on 9. Despite a Djouahara brace (30 & 73) Arouca’s 3 goals weren’t enough for them to take anything from the game as Estoril scored 4 for the second successive game through Boma (43), Holsgrove (50) and Carvalho with the winner 5 minutes from time to secure a 4-3 win. Xg 2.06 to 1.13, Arouca missed their only big chance, Estoril scored 2 of 3.

Taça de Portugal 4th Round - Famalicão (H) If conceding in the 4th minute the previous game was bad enough, Van de Looi made it 1-0 to Fama after just a minute. Bondo made it 2-0 on 77 and despite a Marques goal 5 minutes from time, Estoril’s brief run in the Taça was over as they lost 2-1. 

Matchday 12 – Porto (A) For the third successive game Estoril conceded in the opening ten minutes. A Gomes goal on 7 enough for a 1-0 win to the league leaders. Xg 1.05 to 1.35, Porto missed 2 of 3 big chances, Estoril missing their only one.

Matchday 13 – Moreirense (H) After two relatively calm games, the gloves came off once again as the two sides shared a point with a 3-3 draw. Sporting loanee Travossos took all of a minute to open the lead and that’s four successive games they’d conceded in the opening 10. de Paula equalised on 18, Sánchez put them 2-1 up on 53 and they were coasting 4 minutes later when Begraoui made it 3-1. Four minutes after that Assis made it 3-2 before Semedo completed the circle two minutes into additional time. Xg 2.32 to 1.93. Both sides scored 2 of their 3 big chances.

Matchday 14 – Famalicão (A) After being knocked out by Fama in the Taça, Estoril travelled away looking for revenge and instead had their arses handed to them. Zabiri made it 1-0 after a minute, can you imagine what their players must have been thinking for a second successive game and the fifth successive conceding in the opening 10 minutes. What time do Estoril kick off? About quarter of an hour after their opponents it appears. Or in the case of this game not at all. Sá made it 2-0 on 23, Dias 3-0 on 49 and Zabiri completed his brace on 77 as the home side finished 4-0 victors. Xg 3.00 to 0.77. Estoril missed their 1 big chance. Fama missed FIVE of NINE. Or scored FOUR of NINE depending on whether your glass is half empty or half full. Or 44.44% recurring empty or …

Matchday 15 – Braga (H) Would Estoril manage to make it more than a minute without conceding a goal? Yes they would and moreover they managed the full 90 for a precious clean sheet and a Lacximicant goal on 42 gave them an even more precious 3 points to boot. XG 1.99 to 1.94. After 10 goals in the previous 2 games, both sets of players tried to at least replicate a similar number of goals. Estoril missed 4 of 5 big chances, Braga an even 4 out of 4. 

Matchday 16 – Alverca (A) A brace of own goals from Meupiyou (OG) 35 & 59 and a brace from Bergraoui 42 + 46 provided a late Christmas present for Estoril. Alverca scored a scant consolation through Amorim on 66. Final score 4-1 to the visitors. Xg 1.3 to 0.82, Estoril missed 1 of 2 big chances, Alverca missed their only 1.

Matchday 17 – Benfica (A) After keeping both the lions and the grape crushers to a solitary goal how would they fair against the other of Os Três Grandes? Not great. A Pavlidis hat-trick (33 pen, 45 + 79). Carvalho 45+2 with a consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat. Xg 2.27 to 0.71. The Greek scored all 3 of the dirty pigeons big chances. Estoril missed both of theirs. 

Matchday 18 – Estrela (A) Their trip to Amadora proves extremely fruitful as they recorded their biggest win of the campaign once more helped by playing against ten men after Marcus was sent off a minute before half time. Carvalho had already given them a second minute lead. A second half hat-trick from Bergraoui (50, 54 pen + 69) and a goal from Marques (64) secure a 5-0 win. That the Moroccans second match ball of the season. Xg 0.19 to 2.17. Estoril converted 3 of 4 big chances. Estrela didn't create a single 1. 

Matchday 19 – Vitória (H) Another thrilling goal fest as last week's tally of 5 upped to 6. Samu opening the scoring on 26 to put the visitors 1-0 up. Bergraoui equalised 2 minutes later. Mitrovic restored the advantage on 33. A Marques brace (55 + 64) turned the game on its head and Bergraoui completed his brace on 77 for a 4-2 win. Xg 2.01 to 1.94. Vitória missed all 4 of their big chances. Estoril scored 2 of their 3. Five goals in two games for the Moroccan.

Matchday 20 – Santa Clara (A) Lightning strikes twice. Bergraoui opening the scoring with a 33rd minute penalty. Marques made it 2-0 6 minutes before half time. Calila pulled a goal back for the islanders early in the second half before Silva drew the scores level on 64. Guitane restored the advantage on 73 and a second penalty 3 minutes from time, again by Bergraoui secured a second successive 4-2 win. Xg 1.58 to 2.31. Estoril scored all 3 of their big chances, Santa missed 3 of their 4. 

Matchday 21 – Tondela (H) Tondela raced into a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes through an Henryque brace. Carvalho pulled a goal back on 25 and Ferro made it 2-2 just 3 minutes later. After the initial flurry of goals neither side able to find a third for a decisive winner. Xg 0.74 to 1.36. Tondela scored both their big chances, Estoril missed their only one.

Matchday 22 – AVS (A) Estoril suffer the ignominy of becoming the first team to lose to AVS in the top flight this season. Second half goals from Duarte (53), Tomané (74) and Algobia (90+5) finally broke their duck. Despite only having 29% possession AVS scored both their big chances, Estoril missed both of theirs. XG 1.08 to 1.10. 

Transfer Window 

The club opted against adding to the squad during the winter window, noting the summer window had closed by the time the two sides first met this season. 

Outgoing

Tiago Parente on loan to Felgueiras

Tiago Brito on loan to Oliveirense

Fabricio Garcia on loan to Alverca

Francisco Pereira on loan to Lusitano de Evora  

In the markets 

Sporting CP TBC 

Draw TBC

Estoril TBC

Sporting B

Sporting CP v Portimonense 

February 15th, 2026

Matchday 22

Starting XI 

Callai, Dias, Muniz, Ramos, Moreira, Tanlongo, Justo, Couto, Rayan, Cardoso & G.Silva

Substitutes Used 

Blopa, Felicíssimo, Mendonca, Bafdili and Oliveira 

The youngsters without the services of Gonçalves and Nel presumably on the basis of both being in the Matchday squad for the first team to face Famalicão in the evening. A win would see them climb back above Academico Viseu into second place after their win yesterday at home to Oliveirense.

The lions took the lead on 8 minutes through Ramos. Cargo equalised on 34 and Portimonense turned the game on its head when Sarara scored to make it 1-2 on 39 minutes and they led going into the half time break. Double change for the lions at half time with Felicíssimo and Blopa coming on and the latter wasted no time in making an impact as he equalised 3 minutes after coming on. Callai saved a penalty from Sarara in the 67th minute and Portimonense made to rue that missed chance as Cardoso gave the lions the lead once more just 3 minutes later. Justo made it 4-2 with ten to play. Dju made it 4-3, three minutes into additional time but the lions held on. The visitors with 9 shots on target over the course of the 90 but somehow the youngsters found a way for their third straight win with the six straight losses that proceeded seemingly fully put to bed now.