Estrela da Amadora 0 Sporting CP 1

Estrela da Amadora v Sporting CP 
Estádio José Gómes 
Saturday April 11th, 2026
Matchday 28

The warm up

It's April 2nd as I write and we're now entering what can technically be referred to as the business end of the season. Not for the first time in recent years at this time in the campaign my enthusiasm for the Jogo Bonito is starting to wane and has all the remaining power of an Alan Ruiz hand into the face which is of course a nice segue into Matchday 28 as the lions make the short trip to take on Estrela. 

For as long as a football has been kicked in the professional game, smaller clubs have bemoaned that decisions go against them when playing the bigger teams and if we rewind the clock back to this fixture from last season, if you heard an Estrela fan bemoaning exactly that same point then you couldn't really argue with them. The difference I find from a Sporting perspective, compared to say that of… oh I don't know, let's say of an FC Porto (*pulls pin out of hand grenade) is at least we have the common decency to admit to being the beneficiaries. Tomorrow night we play Santa Clara at the José Alvalade for the first game back after the international break. A fixture now infamous for the longest VAR check in history to award a penalty that felt like one of the greatest heists since the Brink’s-Mat robbery of 1983. Or maybe that was when we were awarded the corner in the league game from which Hjulmand scored the winner when it clearly should have been a goal kick. There is probably an element of truth that these things have a way of evening themselves out because Sporting have themselves been on the end of some controversial officiating and I'm not just talking about Conrad Harder's suspension for saying yeah or Luis Suárez’s hand wringing action in the match against Porto. However, all told if you're a fan of Estrela or of Santa Clara I'm sure you'll say that's bollocks, we still don't get anything, and well you're probably right.

In the main I have sympathy for a lot of referees who's name isn't João Pinheiro. I read an article the other day about the added pressure they're facing when a VAR check is ongoing and the TV camera is focused directly on them and originally when I read it I thought that makes a lot of sense. Now with the added benefit of time I'm thinking actually that's complete and utter nonsense because the people doing the work aren't on your TV screen at all. The referee just has the job of telling players to fuck off and sticking his finger in one ear to try hear better what's being said in his other one. Putting that aside they still have a hard job to do, one which oddly they're not helped much by their colleagues who never show them replays in real time when called to the pitch side monitor and instead are forced to watch twenty angles of the same incident in super slow motion which inevitably makes things always look worse. Sometimes though the opposite occurs and even slowed down it looks equally as innocuous as it did in real time which brings me nicely back to the penalty given against Alan Ruiz where Diomande did the poor sod up like a fucking kipper. Somehow in last season's fixture the referee Gustavo Correia managed to show to Estrela; eight yellow cards, two reds and awarded two penalties against them in the 3-0 win for Sporting in a game that didn't really carry any malice with it at all. 

This is a fixture that normally guarantees goals and three points for the lions. At the José Alvalade in November it finished 4-0 with Sporting 3-0 up with only 24 minutes gone through goals from Quenda, Suárez and Fresneda. The Colombian completed his brace in the second half. 

The fixture before was the aforementioned 3-0 with a Gyökeres brace of penalties sandwiching another Quenda goal. Estrela played with ten men from minute 33 to minute 86 and then nine until the final whistle. 

They did at least find the net when they met in the November of early 2024, although unfortunately for them Gyökeres found it four times in total and Araújo scored in addition to make it a 5-1 defeat. Rodrigo Pinho had made it 2-1 in the 33rd minute and that now means Estrela have now gone 237 minutes without scoring against Sporting. 

In March 2024 they actually took the lead through a Leonel Bucca header on 14 minutes but found themselves 2-1 down by six minutes before half time with goals from Paulinho and Nuno Santos taking all 3 points back to Lisboa. 

Oh and if you're ever wondering if the fixture list is copied and pasted every season then we'll wait and see when the Alvalade fixture is scheduled in the 2026/27 season because if it's November something is definitely fishy. November 2023 the lions took the lead through Bragança. Estrela not only equalised four minutes into the second half but were 2-1 ahead after 9. Two goals in 8 minutes from Marcus Edwards and Paulinho turned the game back on its head for a 3-2 win. 

So in 450 minutes of football Estrela haven't kept a clean sheet, failed to find the net in their last two outings, scored 4 times thus averaging a goal every 112 and a half minutes and have conceded 16 times which is basically a goal every half hour so put your money in a 3-0 Sporting win and maybe if you're feeling adventurous add Quenda for an anytime goalscorer. Or maybe they're now due a goal, so make that a 3-1 win. In all seriousness do not follow my betting advice unless you're doing a modern day Brewster's Millions. 

With three home games remaining Estrela will be hoping for a large travelling contingent as their attendances continue to decline. In their first season in the top flight they had a total of 74,847 bums on seats at an average gate of 4,403 which feels pretty good to me. Now if you're new to Portuguese football or just happen to be reading this randomly, I promise I'm not being facetious when I wrote that. Portugal is a small country in terms of land mass and population. Three clubs dominate the footballing landscape, more commonly known as Os Três Grandes; Sport Lisboa e Benfica at the top, Sporting CP and FC Porto. There are a lot of relatively small clubs in the top flight of Portuguese football which is a fact that often gets overlooked, Estrela being one such example. Of Os Três Grandes two of those clubs are Lisboa based and the distance from Estrela’s home to the Estádio José Alvalade is just shy of six miles so they're having to compete for eyeballs from two of the three biggest teams in the country, but not only that, in addition you've also Alverca and Casa Pia locally and whilst not in the top flight anymore Belenenses to boot. Throw in Estoril who are half an hour down the road and to me an average of 4,403 doesn't feel bad at all in my books. However, 2024/25 fell to 62,972 at an average of 3,704 and this season the novelty seems to be well and truly wearing off with a total of just 38,361 spectators after 14 games at an average of just 2,740. Estrela v Sporting in March 2025 had a gate of 7,031 and March 2024 had 6,764. Porto are still to visit but April 2025 had a gate of just 4,273 and September 2023 was 5,976. Famalicão, who they face in their last home game had an attendance in August 2024 of 4,769 which probably had an inflated figure for start of season enthusiasm and some sunshine and just 3,137 in October 2023. So being uber optimistic on their behalf, with Porto going for the title they may see 7,000 for that game, throw in another 7,000 for this game and 3,500 for Famalicão and a best case scenario in each is going to land them shy of a total of 56,000 spectators this season for an average gate of around 3,300. If you wonder why Portuguese clubs constantly have to sell their talent then there's your answer in a nutshell. Estrela have had to sell the likes of André Luis, Sidny Lopes Cabral, Luan Farias, Kiolanda Gaspar, Danilo Veiga, Tiago Gabriel and Oumar Ngom to balance the books in recent seasons. 

Incidentally as I've fallen down a rabbit hole, it transpires that figure of 3,704 for last season when you discount Os Três Grandes was the fifth highest average attendance in all of Portugal. If you exclude Os Três Grandes the top flight average for the Liga was 5,306. Liga 2 saw an average of 1,600. 

Going into this weekends fixtures Estrela are 13th, six points ahead of Nacional who they play next away from home. Their record played 27, won 6, drawn 10, lost 11, GF 33, GA 45. Those ten draws the most of any side in the top flight. Their six point gap to Nacional who occupy the relegation play off place is owed entirely to their comparative home records. Estrela’s reads played 14, won 4, drawn 5, lost 5, GF 20, GA 21 and gives them precisely their current six point advantage. Of the 33 goals scored 23 have been from open play, 4 set pieces, 1 free kick and 5 penalties noting they've been awarded 6 to date. 

Top scorer is Kikas with 6, Abraham Marcus, Jovane and the now departed Sidny Lopes Cabral have 5 apiece. The rest shared between just six players. They currently average 1.2 goals scored per game and 1.7 conceded per game. Even a five year old can tell you that's bad maths. Over the winter transfer window we saw Moreirense sell their top goalscorer in Schettine, Gil Vicente with Pablo and whilst £5m for Sidny Lopes Cabral who they signed on a free transfer in July is a huge chunk of change for a club of Estrela's size, it's not hard to work out the detrimental effect these sales have on all these clubs. Since the turn of the year Estrela have won just two of eleven games and had I been writing this before their last game to Casa Pia that would have been a UB40 style one in ten. 

7 clean sheets so roughly 1:4. Their goals scored to Xg pretty much spot on with 33 to 33.3. Notes that Rio Ave is perfectly balanced at 28-28. They average 3.8 shots on target per match and have missed a total of 28 big chances. Xg conceded 42.8 compared to the actual figure of 45. 

Second most accurate long balls per match on average with 24.6 and third for most interceptions at 9.2. Fourth for total saves of 84 at an average of 3.1 per game. Everyone's good at something right no matter how damning a set of statistics those might read? Unfortunately they've also conceded the third highest total of penalties with 9. Eighth highest total of fouls per match on 14.8, eighth highest for bookings with 66 total and sixth highest for sending's off with 4 to date. 

Goalkeeper Renan Ribeiro one of just five players in the entire league after Matchday 27 to have played every minute of their respective clubs campaign. The ex-lion not the only familiar name to Sportinguista's in the Estrela squad. Diogo Pinto joined in the summer but with Ribeiro having played every minute in the league to date, he's been limited to 90 minutes in the Taça de Portugal. Jovane Cabral still there who we've already mentioned above. That total number is dwindling though with Miguel Lopes and Alan Ruiz having both now left. Diogo Travossos was on loan with them and Nani had joined before deciding to hang up his boots for good. 

We pick up Estrela's season after Matchday 12 against the lions recapping that after 11 games they'd won just twice against AVS at home 3-0 and Casa Pia 5-3 away, drawn 5 and lost 4.

Matchday 13 - Arouca (H) Goals from Kikas (28) and Marcus (33) gave Estrela a 2-0 lead. Fukui cut the deficit on 58 but a Pinho goal 2 minutes from time completed a 3-1 win to make it just their 3rd of the season. Xg a massive 3.33 to 0.59. Estrela miss 2 of 4 big chances, Arouca failed to register a single one.

Matchday 14 - Porto (A) Despite a Marcus goal on 59 equalising Aghehowa's opener from the penalty spot on 16, Estrela unable to come way with anything against the league leaders as they lost 3-1. Moura restored the lead on 62 and a Sidny Lopes Cabral own goal on 72 ensures their defeat. Xg 2.95 to just 0.21. Porto scored both their big chances, Estrela unsurprisingly given their Xg didn't create a single one.

Matchday 15 - Moreirense (H) Points shared in a 0-0 draw. Xg 0.87 to 1.14. Estrela miss their 1 big chance, Moreirense both of theirs.

Matchday 16 - Famalicão (A) An electric opening half hour saw Fama take the lead after 7 minutes through a Patrick own goal on 7. Kikas make it 1-1 on 9, Jovane gave the visitors the lead on 23 before Sorisso made it 2-2 on 26. Jovane completed his brace on 50 for a 3-2 win. XG 2.45 to 0.70. Fama missed 2 of 3 big chances, Estrela 1 of 2.

Matchday 17 - Braga (H) The northerners went ahead through a Moutinho penalty on 11 minutes. Kikas equalised 4 minutes later. Navarro restored Braga's lead on 50 and Zalazar made it 3-1 on 63. Jovane with his 3rd goal in 2 games made it 3-2 on 68 and Marcus secured a point when he made it 3-3 on 72. Xg 1.05 to 3.27. Estrela score both their big chances. Braga miss 2 of 5. 

Matchday 18 - Estoril (H) Only a mere hint of what was to come a Carvalho made it 0-1 after just 2 minutes. The game really changed when Abraham Marcus was shown a red card on 44 to reduce Estrela to ten men. Begraoui made it 0-2 on 50, 0-3 with a 53rd minute penalty, Marques made it 0-4 on 64 and Begraoui completed his hat-trick on 69 to complete a 5-0 Estoril rout. Xg 0.19 to 2.17. 0 big chances for the home side, Estoril score 3 of 4.

Matchday 19 - Benfica (A) After a 5-0 hammering the week before, their misery was compunded with another 4-0 drubbing in the Dérbi. Pavlidis opened the scoring on 41 and made it 2-0 from the penalty spot on 54. If that wasn't bad enough for them their former player Sidny Lopes Cabral made it 3-0 just 2 minutes later. Anisio Cabral scored the final goal 7 minutes before the end of time to make it 9 goals conceded in just 2 games. Xg 2.53 to 0.13. Benfica score 2 of their 3 big chances, Estrela missed their only 1 which was one of just 3 attempts over the course of the 90. 

Matchday 20 - Alverca (A) A van Hooijdonk penalty ten minutes before time gave the visitors the lead and they looked to be heading towards 3 valuable points until Garcia's equaliser 4 minutes from time to make it 1-1 and the points were shared in the Dérbi. Xg 1.12 to 0.91. Estrela scored their 1 big chance, Alverca missed 1 of 2.

Matchday 21 - Santa Clara (H) A Jovane goal on 58 gives Estrela a 1-0 win. XG 0.94 to 1.26. Santa miss both their big chances, importantly Estrela scored 1 of their 3.

Matchday 22 - Vitória (A) Despite going ahead on 9 minutes through Moreira, Balieiro (63) and Sousa (67) give the home side a 2-1 win. Xg 1.42 to 1.22. Both sides miss 1 of 2 big chances.

Matchday 23 - Tondela (H) A Bebeto penalty after just 3 minutes and a scond from Henryque 16 minutes before the end of time give the visitors a 2-0 win. Xg 0.94 to 1.36. Estrela miss their only big chance, Tondela score 1 of 2.

Matchday 24 - AVS (A) Disappointment for Estrela against the leagues bottom club as they come away with just a 0-0 draw. Xg 0.76 to 0.77. AVS miss their 1 big chance, Estrela both of theirs.

Matchday 25 - Gil Vicente (H) A Murilo penalty on 13 gives Gil a 1-0 lead. Jovane equalised on 53, Marcus made it 2-1 on 66 but the lead didn't last long as García made it 2-2 just 2 minutes later and the points shared. XG 1.22 to 1.91. Gil scored both their big chances, Estrela missed 2 of 4.

Matchday 26 - Rio Ave (A) A Blesa brace (26 and 47) gives the home side a 2-0 lead. Pinho pulled one back to make it 2-1 on 64 but Estrela unable to prevent another loss. Xg 2.64 to 1.36. Rio missed 4 of 6 bog chances, Estrela score their only big chance.

Matchday 27 - Casa Pia (H) Estrela completed the double in the Dérbi. A A first half Pinho brace (11 penalty and 45+2) and a Marcus goal on 36 gave them a 3-0 lead at the break. Doué completed the win with 15 minutes to go to make the score 4-0. Xg 3.69 to 0.65. Six big chances created for the home side, though they missed 4. Casa Pia missed their only one.

Matchday 27 - Nacional (A) A disastrous start by the visitors who fall behind with a minute on the clock as Ramirez scores the opening goal. Bóia puts the game beyond Estrela with the second on 70 minutes for a 2-0 win. Xg 0.96 to 0.53. The islanders missed their only big chance, Estrela don't create a single one. 

So seven games to play for the side from Amadora in a season which one imagines should see them avoid relegation once more with things at the time of writing very much in their own hands, Nacional result willing. Every fan wants to see their club be successful but going back to my opening point about football burnout, I am slightly envious of fans of Estrela and can't help thinking a 35 game season would be much nicer. By my maths Sporting had played game 35 of their season by February 5th and still had three months worth of games still to play. We don't need two semi final legs in the Taça de Portugal and I'd still be writing that if we had lost to FC Porto last month. We don't need an extended Champions League group phase or two home and away ties in the subsequent rounds. Sporting will be taking on an Estrela side who've played 29 matches and they have this game sandwiched in between home and away ties to Arsenal. I look at José Fonte at Casa Pia who at 42 years young has played 1,437 minutes this campaign and I can't envisage any of our current squad being able to still play into their early 40s. As sad as it is for Hjulmand to miss out on the World Cup with Denmark you imagine with a new born baby it will be a blessing in disguise especially when he's about to uproot all their lives with a move away. How many injuries to players need to occur before something finally changes? Sadly I suspect it won't ever matter at all now. 

In the markets

Estrela 9/1
Draw 9/2
Sporting CP 17/100

Team News 

Starting XI 

Silva, Fresneda, Quaresma, Debast, Araújo, Hjulmand, Bragança, Geny, Trincão, Gonçalves and Suárez 

Substitutes 

Virgínia, Vagiannidis, Diomande, Mangas, Morita, Kochorashvili, Quenda, Faye and Nel

Four changes from the side who narrowly lost to Arsenal on Tuesday night. In the centre of defence Diomande and Inácio swap with Debast and Quaresma and Inácio isn't in the matchday squad. In the centre captain Hjulmand regains his place having been suspended in the Champions League and Bragança is given a starting place alongside the Dane with Morita and Simões making way. The latter is reportedly injured. On the bench a return to the matchday squad to Quenda with Flavio Gonçalves the player to miss out. You imagine Sporting B could have used his services in their 2-1 defeat to Farense.

Estrela Starting XI 

40 Ribeiro 

24 Langa

14 Schappo

4 Lekovic 

21 Scholze

6 Jansson

8 Robinho

39 Doué

10 Stoica

9 Pinho 

99 Marcus

Two changes to the starting XI from João Nuno from the side that lost 2-0 to Nacional.

First Half

Estrela set to lineup in a 4-3-3. The lions in black with silver trim. Windy, cold night in Amadora as several of the Sporting players rub their arms to keep warm as they await kick off. Finally the lions kick off 4 minutes late and will attack right to left. 

1 I normally criticise Bragança for doing his hair but tonight we're treated to a close up of him firing snot from both nostrils. How charming. 

6 Gonçalves finds Araújo with a clever lofted ball over two defenders into the area but the Uruguayan gets it all wrong and his shot rolls harmlessly into the arms of Ribeiro 

7 Stoica causes issues for the lions far side. His cross eventually fell to Marcus who hammers the ball into the stand from 16 yards 

9 Corner far side to the lions conceded from a wonderfully timed tackle on Fresneda by Langa inside the area. Estrela clear the resulting corner with a header behind. 

10 Corner near side comes to nothing as Debast penalised for a foul. 

11 Wonderful ball from Debast finds Fresneda wide right. His pass to Gonçalves inside the area is then back heeled straight to an Estrela player and the danger passes

12 Naughty from the Belgian as he shoves Robinho and looked to have kicked him on the follow through in the ribs as he fell

13 Estrela taking no prisoners with a sliding challenge on Araújo 

14 Geny tries to send Fresneda clear but overcooked his pass and the ball goes out for a goal kick

16 Estrela flooding their box with bodies and defending in a 5-3-2. Fresneda certainly more involved in an attacking sense in the opening quarter of an hour 

17 Suárez shot blocked from 18 yards 

17 Suárez shot blocked from 24 yards 

17 Third chance in under a minute. Fresneda with a great cushioned header inside the box found Trincão who blasts over from 15 yards 

18 Corner far side to Estrela who have two players down in the box. Calm header from Quaresma to clear the cross from the near side 

19 Marcus fires well wide of the right post from 20 yards 

20 Geny found Gonçalves inside the area who turns two defenders before losing his balance unchallenged and the chance goes begging 

22 Debast clearance fell straight to Robinho and the Belgian grateful to see the ball rebound and go out for a goal kick 

25 Gonçalves goes down claiming a foul but the referee unmoved and probably correctly. We see from the replay that the referee couldn't have had a better view of the incident if he'd brought front row tickets six weeks in advance he was 3 yards away at most 

26 Good defending again from the home side as Langa shields the ball and sends Geny out of play legally 

27 Fresneda with a miss hit cross nearly catches Ribeiro out and he tips the ball over for a corner far side 

28 So close to an own goal and the Estrela player makes the sign of the cross as the ball somehow went behind from two yards out 

29 Third corner far side. The lions go short and the cross into the area cleared easily 

31 Horrendous miss from Gonçalves found open by Suárez 8 yards out and not only does it not end up on target, had Araújo not picked it up on the edge of the area it probably would have gone out for a throw 

32 Robinho with a superb sliding tackle to take the ball off the feet of Araújo for a corner near side 

34 We're treated to a replay of Lekovic's header in the 28th minute. He heads it from a height of about two yards off the ground, into the turf and somehow it bounced up and over the bar 

35 We have a black and white cat loose on the pitch. Never written that before 

37 Araújo challenges Pinho and doesn't look impressed with the forward staying down as he stands over the forward crestfallen and ruffles his hair for good measure before trotting off 

38 Stoica tries from the edge of the far side of the 18 yard box but fires wide of the far post 

41 Gonçalves palms Marcus away. The game has got a little tetchy in the past couple of minutes. The Estrela forward penalised seconds before for a foul on Hjulmand 

43 Stoica sends Debast into the photographers behind the goal. You might suggest the Belgian made the most of the contact into his back 

Plus two shown 

+1 Jansson shown the games first yellow for a foul on Hjulmand 

Half time 

CD Estrela da Amadora 0 Sporting CP 0

Perhaps the most impressive defensive display from any Portuguese opponents that I've seen all season. Sporting in addition have been poor going forward but that's not to take away the performance of the Estrela defenders. Each of their tackles inside the area have been well timed. They've certainly been helped by some atrocious finishing. First from Araújo who failed to connect with a great weighted pass from Gonçalves over two defenders but that was nothing compared to Gonçalves effort that was heading for the edge of the area and out for a throw in. Thankfully for the lions they've had very little to do defensively and other than Debast’s lapse of concentration with a poor clearance that could have ricocheted anywhere Estrela have never looked like scoring. The best chance at either end wasn't really a chance at all but the defensive header from Lekovic into the ground which somehow went over the bar. In terms of excitement it's been that or the cat on the loose. 

Second Half 

➡️⬅️ Vagiannidis set to enter as Rui Borges gives the Greek defender his final instructions and he nods his head and says OK. Fresneda the player to make way.

Just the one shot on target in the first half, that the Araújo effort. Estrela get us back underway. 

45 Vagiannidis straight into the action wins a corner near side with 20 seconds gone. 

45 Sporting penalised for a foul for the second time in the game. By Vagiannidis’ reaction it was against him for obstruction on Ribeiro 

47 Bragança fouled in the centre as he tries to carry the ball up field 

48 Geny tries to find Vagiannidis on the overlap but his pass over hit again and Estrela clear 

48 Lekovic sends an Araújo cross out for a corner far side 

49 Suárez shoots from 8 yards and his effort flies wildly away and to safety. He connected with the defender and went down clutching his leg. Replay shows that he kicks the foot of Marcus in his follow through. Not sure what he was appealing for 

50 Estrela have all ten outfield players in an area of 12 yards spread across the pitch making it near on impossible for Sporting to find and a black and silver shirt in the final third 

52 Suárez found in space far side but again a brilliantly timed tackle to dispossess him for a throw 

52 Geny goes down two yards outside the area and again I can't see anything wrong with the challenge 

53 Geny back on his feet puts his hand to his mouth so presumably the suggestion was of contact by Langa but never a foul 

54 Last ditch defending by Debast clears for a throw from Marcus who was looking to attack down the right. Highly unconvincing though unlike the Estrela defenders so far tonight with their tackles 

54 Long throw into the box cleared by Bragança for a corner far side. That's their first to the lions nine so far which have all been frankly - utter pony

55 Another superbly timed tackle in midfield as Geny tried to race clear 

56 Hjulmand is doing his best to get booked for dissent as he argues with the referee who blew up to allow treatment for Pinho when the lions were about to break 

58 GOLAZZO Estrela 0 Sporting CP 1. Finally the lions found a way through the rear guard action of the home side and in some style too. Geny split the defence open with his pass to find Trincão who started on a run which found Bragança who fires home from his position centrally into the bottom right hand corner from 18 yards 

59 Red card to one of the technical staff for Estrela 

60 I used to write this a lot but Estrela will now have to leave space at the back to try find an equaliser which the lions should be able to finally exploit. It took some real class to finally unlock them. If I was a neutral I'd be quite gutted for them 

61 ➡️ ⬅️ Sporting old boy Jovane comes on for Stoica

61 In contrast to the poor atmosphere in the José Alvalade on Tuesday night the away fans in full voice buoyed by the goal

62 Jovane flattens Vagiannidis who has a touch of the Bragança’s about him and does his hair 

63 ➡️⬅️ Robinho for Meireles

66 ➡️⬅️ Quenda and Morita for Bragança and Gonçalves who depart on the far side. Big cheer for the returning youngster. Gonçalves has been as bad tonight as when he returned from his long lay off last season 

67 Estrela with a back 3 now pushed some 30 yards up. Quenda has gone wide left and was found inside the area but gets his feet all wrong and Estrela cleared the danger.

68 Fucking hell. Suárez smashes the ball out for a throw in on the near side with Estrela on the back foot and two team mates in space. We're treated to a replay of the Quenda chance. The last defender miss controls the ball and the youngster got the break from the deflection upwards. Quenda opted to cut the ball back with two defenders in front of him rather than shoot but then got it all wrong

69 Corner near side to Estrela. Big save from Silva down to his right from a Scholze shot from outside the area. 

69 Blocked shot far side of the area from 16 yards by Jovane 

73 Corner far side to the lions headed clear. Geny's cross back in straight into the hands of Ribeiro

73 Replays of the Jovane shot presumably looking at whether Araújo handled the ball. We've not seen the Scholze effort again. Not sure if it deflected or bounces before it reached Silva but it was a huge save nonetheless 

75 Sporting appeal for a foul on Suárez on the edge of the box 

75 Quenda goes down far side and no free kick given. Morita fouls the Estrela man to break up play with the Colombian still down 

75 ➡️ ⬅️ Encada for Doué, Pinho for van Hooijdonk, Langa for Fernandes

77 Finally we see a replay of the Estrela chance and it hits the outstretched foot of Suárez and changes course of direction. Well done Mr Rui Silva 

78 BAR Geny whips in a shot from 20 yards that smashes off the bar and to safety

79 Corner near side as a shot from 18 yards deflects off Debast. Meireles with the effort 

80 Header from 8 yards into the arms of Silva and the danger passes 

82 van Hooijdonk effort from 8 yards to the left of the area straight into the arms of Silva 

83 Thunder claps from the Sporting fans as they look to energise the players to the finishing line 

84 Trincão looks to send Suárez clear and his run checked but the referee again not interested. If he thinks it's simulation then he has to book the Colombian 

86 Silva booked for time wasting. Rarely do you ever see it from the lions yet you see it every week from the opposition keepers and very rarely is it ever penalised with a booking even after the twentieth time 

87 Yellow shown for simulation to Encada who went over under minimal contact from Araújo under the nose of the assistant far side 

88 Ironic applause as an elbow goes into the neck of Suárez and a free kick awarded 

88 Some bloke in a poncho and Mexican hat in the crowd. You'd not want to sit behind him or next to him if he was your Dad. Christ you'd die of embarrassment 

89 Quaresma with great defensive work... In the Estrela area. Oops

89 Yellow to van Hooijdonk for an arm into a Sporting player. Presumably Debast as the camera pans in close on the Belgian

Plus five shown 

90 Suarez shot blocked from 18 yards 

+1 ➡️⬅️ Diomande for Trincão as the lions shut up shop 

-1 The away fans are bouncing in the stands 

+3 Araújo fouled on the edge of the Estrela area 

+4 Quenda cross blocked for a corner far side 

+5 ➡️⬅️ Referee runs to tell Geny to hurry up as Nel enters 

+5 Sporting win another corner as the referee tells the Estrela players to retreat ten yards as Sporting about to go short again to run down the clock 

+6 Third corner won and finally the referee has had enough and blows for full time 

Full time 

CD Estrela da Amadora 0 Sporting CP 1 

The final word

You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.

I'm going to begin my round up by giving flowers to Estrela who were superb tonight. That's the best performance I've seen from an opponent all season long and they deserved something from the game. The only thing they were lacking is a goalscorer so thank you to Benfica for signing Sidny Lopes Cabral in January. Something's you couldn't make up. Watch him now go score next week in the Dérbi. Football is such a cruel sport sometimes. In the manner we deserved something from the Arsenal game in midweek, Estrela deserved something tonight but both times one moment of real quality was the difference maker. Their tackles in the main were perfectly timed and well executed especially in the box and when you compare them to some of our players challenges across the 90 it was night and day. They made us look clumsy and of there's any justice in this world they'll at least find the results to keep them up. I'd have to check my spreadsheet but that may well be the only league game that Sporting have failed to create a single big chance over the course of the 90. No I lie I want to say Porto at home but I might be wrong. 

It seems funny to be about to make excuses for a game that we've just won but I'm going to trot them out anyway. The biggest one is clearly the Arsenal game on Wednesday night and Sporting went through the motions presumably trying to conserve everything they have which is fine in principle but if it doesn't pay off in midweek and they empty the tank, they've got a Dérbi on the Sunday and then the Clássico straight after that. Boy it's a tough month ahead of us. I'm going grey enough as it is, I might be white by the end of the month. Had Geny's shot gone in instead of hitting the bar I'd still be having the same summing up of the game but as I always say a 1-0 win gets you the same amount of points as a 6-0 win does. It could all come down to a head to head record which whilst a little far fetched still remains a possibility and we'd be fucked and looking back at games like the two Braga's as to where it all went wrong but we are a long way off that for now. What has happened is the pressure ramps back up on Porto and we look to Estoril to try and get something from their game. It's a big ask but Porto played Thursday night against Nottingham Forest with Martim Fernandes’ 50 yard own goal still ringing in their ears and have to play again on the Thursday in the second leg. What team do they play? Do they go full strength with one eye on the title or do they try to compete on the two fronts? Who'd be a mister? Clearly the lions are preparing for a blitz on North London on Wednesday night. Never will they have a better opportunity to reach the Champions League Semi finals and I'm only now allowing myself to admit that after tonights win and Arsenal's 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at lunchtime, their third defeat in 4 games. If I'm allowing it to enter my head then I can only imagine what's going through the players heads right now. So I'll forgive them for not being great tonight. We're all human and if I have a bad day at the office I've not got the hopes and dreams of several hundred thousand people to worry about. As they say in the Côte d'Ivoire, pressure makes Diomande's and boy do they have a chance to shine but if it doesn't happen they have to dust themselves off for the Dérbi. Big, big week ahead. 

But back to tonight's game. Other than the Scholze effort which deflected off the foot of Suárez and was superbly saved by Rui Silva, the Sporting goal was never in any real danger. Whilst they didn't look as polished as Estrela in their final third they got the job done. I can only remember one telling contribution from Suárez over the course of 90 minutes and that was his pass for the Gonçalves miss which is the worst miss in a Sporting shirt since Marcus Edwards missed from a yard out. Gonçalves one telling contribution was the lofted pass from Araújo and for the second time this week he got a finish all wrong and you were already thinking maybe this isn't going to be our night. No I lie, he had the neat turn in the box and fell flat on his face. That Araújo effort was one of only two shots on target for Sporting and that's how a parent takes a shot at their child in goal, it really was that bad a connection. He doesn't look at it at all since he came back from international duty and yes he could have opened the scoring against Arsenal but he didn't look at the races for me despite what others tried to claim.

Quenda’s decision making clearly hasn't improved since he's been in London and yes whilst he may have only just come onto the field of play he needed to do better with that chance, either to get a shot away faster or recycle the ball to someone in a better position. Geny had the one good chance which hit the bar but he was more than happy to lay the ball off to Fresneda and Vagiannidis and let them do the running. So a better performance than Suárez and Gonçalves combined but that's not hard and neither is it saying much. Morita's cameo was nothing more than a masterclass in tactical fouls. Hjulmand looked like a man whose last game was the defeat which saw Denmark fail to qualify for the World Cup and he's spent his days since haunted by the affair. Who haven't I rubbished yet? I'm not sure how much Vagiannidis has between his ears. If he was born a woman I suspect he'd have lip fillers and a boob job and be trying to make a living from social media. Stood next to Gonçalo Inácio he makes him look smart which is some accolade because I get the impression he's got the brains of a diplodocus. I struggled for four for man of the match against Arsenal and clearly I'm having the same problem now.

Let's do the maths first. As stated already no big chances and that was true for both sides. Final Xg 0.37 to 0.67 and as previously stated the home side didn't really threaten and it took a move of real quality for them to be broken and lose. Oh apologies to Geny, his pass to Trincão was probably the best pass of the night. But his sum total still felt little more than that pass and his effort which hit the bar. It's never good when you pick the keeper in your final four but Silva's save from the deflected cross was a game changer. That could so easily have gone the other way like the Justo goal for Sporting B this afternoon. A fortunate break for him and the lions but that takes nothing away from the stop. Debast looks like a man still carrying an injury and lack of full fitness so cross him off the list. Fresneda - oh man. I love the kid and it winds me up when fans criticise him but even I can't defend his crossing tonight. Sorry Iván. No wait he did at least cushion the header back to Trincão who then stuck it into the empty stand behind Ribeiro. Diomande and Nel weren't on long enough. Christ. So Quaresma vote two. Didn't have a lot to do in fairness but he had the calm header to steer the cross away with two Estrela players behind him in a good position to get a shot away had he not connected and gotten it clear to safety. Which leaves three choices. Bragança, Trincão and the cat and as tempted as I am to give it to the cat for the nights most entertaining display I'd better not. Bragança with the superb finish to secure all three points. I'd forgotten he was playing at times and I'm always loathe to pick someone because he's scored but again tough times and slim pickings. Trincão I did think at least was industrious in and around the area and anything we did do in the final third was likely to have come from his work in and around the area and I can forgive him his awful finish if I compare it to Gonçalves one. My man of the match goes to Trincão. My lion of the match goes to the cat. 

So big week ahead with Arsenal on Wednesday and the Dérbi de Lisboa on Sunday. Handkerchiefs at the ready just in case.

Sporting B

Sporting CP v Penafiel

Saturday April 4th, 2026

Matchday 28

Starting XI 

Callai, Dias, Ramos, Muniz, Moreira, Lucas, Justo, Couto, Bafdili, Cardoso and Anjos

Substitutes Used 

Mendonça, Costa, Felicíssimo, Tanlongo and Silva

Despite taking a 20th minute lead through a Cardoso goal, two second half goals from the visitors condemned the lions to the fifth defeat in six games and their 13th of the campaign. What had started to brightly for the youngsters in the opening half of the season, now sees them at a stage whereby the end of it cannot come soon enough. Clearly not helped by the absences of Nel and Gonçalves who both played in the evening game against Santa Clara the night before, this is still a men's league in which the lions are still in the main trying to compete with kids. Only Nuno Santos and Bragança's appearances in a bid to regain full fitness have blessed them with any type of experience to date, that despite St Juste having been demoted from the first team and then not selected.

Farense v Sporting CP

Saturday April 11th, 2026

Matchday 29

Starting XI 

Callai, Moreira, Munoz, Rômulo, Dias, Justo, Lucas, Cardoso, Bafdili, Couto and Anjos.

Substitutes used 

Silva, Besugo, Mendonca, Felicíssimo and Oliveira 

6 minutes on the clock when Oliveira runs onto a cross from the left wing with a central defender either side and pokes the ball past Callai from a yard to make it 1-0. Poloni drove a penalty into the bottom right hand corner to make it 2-0 in the first minute of additional time at the end of the first half. The lions thought they'd pulled one back on 55 but Silva rightly adjudged to have handled in the box before slotting home. Sporting finally scored on 71 minutes when Felicíssimo’s effort from 27 yards deflected off Anjos and past the keeper. With eight minutes to go Farense were denied a third by the flag of the assistant referee on the far side who ruled offside after Sangare had headed a free kick floated into the box from the far right of the six yard box. The end of their promotion cannot now come fast enough for João Gião's youngsters who once again had to do without the creativity and goals of Flávio Gonçalves and Rafael Nel who will both be involved on first team duty for their game away to Estrela. 

Sporting CP Feminino 

Sporting CP v Sporting Braga 

Saturday April 4th, 2026

Matchday 15

Starting XI 

Wellmann, Fonseca, Barron, Cherry, Cancelinha, Pérez, Martins, Neto, Hernandez Gray, Santiago and Encarnação 

Substitutes Used 

Lino, Arques, Bonseguendo, Armengol and Eaton-Collins 

In the eleventh minute Encarnação on her return to the starting XI picks the ball up outside the Braga box and drives to the left and from the narrowest of angles from just inside the six yard boxes dinks the ball over the onrushing keeper to give the lionesses the lead. Sporting nearly doubled their lead just 3 minutes later when Hernandez Gray stung the hands of the keeper from 20 yards. They didn't hang onto their lead for long however as the northerners equalised on 17 from the penalty spot. 

On minute 42 a corner floated in from the far side was met by Barron seven yards out who saw her effort crash onto the bar. Encarnação's spectacular follow up volleyed effort from ten yards was pushed onto the right hand post by the Braga keeper who was powerless to stop Cancelinha from making it 2-1 from point blank range. 

On 70 minutes Armengol hits an effort from a yard outside the centre circle which leaves the Braga keeper flat footed and cannons off the bar and back to safety. Finally on 85 minutes the lionesses put the game beyond doubt as Encarnação scored her second goal of the game from a yard out. 

Final score Sporting CP 3 Sporting Braga 1