Sporting CP 3 Vitória SC 2

Sporting CP v Vitória SC 
Friday August 14th, 2026
Estadio José Alvalade 
Matchday 2
Referee - David Silva

The Warm Up

Saturday May 16th, 2026 saw Matchday 34 for Vitória SC who'd travelled away to the island of Madeira for their final game of the season to face CD Nacional. After the highs in early January of lifting the Taça da Liga after beating Sporting Braga 2-1 in the final, their season is in danger of going out on a whimper with a third straight league defeat. They'd been savagely trounced on Matchday 32 at the José Alvalade 5-1 which was followed by a surprise loss at home to Casa Pia 1-0 seven days later as they battled to avoid relegation. Gil Lameiras can only watch on as his side lost 2-0 to the islanders led by Tiago Margarido. You have to imagine that their club hierarchy had seen enough of both misters that day because fast forward three months and it's Margarido that will be in the opposition dugout as the new mister for this fixture.

In the 21 months since Rui Borges left Vitória to take over the reigns at Sporting CP, finding the right successor has not been an easy task for their board of directors. Daniel Sousa was charged with the task in December 2024. In August of that year he'd lasted 4 games as the mister of Sporting Braga before they parted ways. He was the mister when Vitória drew with Sporting 4-4 at home. The lions had led 3-0, somehow found themselves 4-3 down only for Trincão to equalise deep into stoppage time for what proved to be a valuable point in the title race that season. On January 13th, 2025 Sousa was gone after just three games, one less than he'd lasted at Braga. Luís Freire would last longer than Sousa but only until July 2025, his successor Luís Pinto until March 2026 and finally Lameiras who was replaced in June of this year. Clearly Rui Borges has left some big shoes to fill. It maybe important to note that at the time of Borges' departure his Vitória side were second in the Europa Conference League Group phase table, second only to the billion pound squad assembled by BlueCo at Premier League Chelsea who unsurprisingly went on to win the competition.

If your new to Portuguese football, in Portugal this fixture is listed as Sporting CP v Vitória SC. If you saw it listed in an international market it'll probably be listed as Sporting Lisbon v Vitória de Guimarães. Please be a better person and learn the correct first version. For the uniniated, by virtue of average attendance as a performance indicator, Vitória are the fourth biggest club in the country. That however doesn't translate onto the pitch in terms of success unfortunately for them. That title is bestowed to Sporting Braga, yes the same Braga who we've established they beat in the final of the Taça da Liga in January of this year. Look I didn't say this was an exact science. Yet if you are new to the league, if you're doing predictions on where clubs will finish in the league table, most fans would start with writing Braga in 4th spot. Hence the famous quote about nothing being certain in life other than death, taxes and Braga finishing fourth. I may have been paraphrasing there or using a tiny bit of artistic licence. Then you have Os Três Grandes, the three grandest and largest ladies in Portuguese football of Sporting, current champions FC Porto and our biggest rivals and THE biggest club by far in all of the country Sport Lisboa e Benfica. The title is going to be won by one of those three teams. Just take my word for it. I just can't tell you which one. 

Last season they averaged 16,557 spectators at their ground the Estádio Afonso D. Henriques. They totalled 281,468 bums on seats across their 17 home games. Now if you're thinking that doesn't feel like an awful lot then I think you can he forgiven. Only five of the top flight clubs had average attendances that were in five figures for their home games across 2025/26. Twelve of the remaining thirteen clubs had average attendances of less than 5,000. Ten of those clubs had attendances less than 3,000 per game. The two smallest clubs by attendance had an average of less than 2,000. This is the Portuguese top flight, the Portuguese equivalent of the Premier League, Serie A or Ligue 1. This is not a case of fans being priced out of the market by the way, you could expect to pay about €11 for an adult ticket. I could fly to Portugal and back, watch a game and I suspect pay for accomodation for cheaper than I could travel to London and back and watch a Premier League game without any accommodation. 

Portugal is not a large country by mass or population. That being said given the price to watch top flight games you can argue the point that Portugal is not a footballing nation. I can write that here safe in the knowledge that no one reads these posts in Portugal - I get the breakdown by country. You might struggle to get a ticket for the Dérbi de Lisboa (Sporting v Benfica) or O Clássico (Porto Vs one of either Lisbon clubs) yet for any other game you'll get a ticket for less than €20 at the Dragão, Da Luz or Estádio José Alvalade. If they can't grow the men's game in Portugal then they've very little chance of ever succeeding with the women's game I'm afraid. So with a lack of money at the turnstiles, traditionally no centralised TV contract for all clubs with the big boys negotiating theirs separately, a lack of commercial income from shirt sales for those from 6th through 18th, it's hardly surprising every club sells their star names to the highest bidder season after season. I'd argue that Vitória are one of the best selling clubs in Portuguese football. They don't produce superstars who they can sell for what I'd call silly money, but unlike matchday 1 opponents CF Estrela da Amadora, they can generally balance their books with player sales. We're just short of three weeks from this fixture being played as I write and they've sold Diogo Sousa to Strasbourg for £8.6m and Noah Saviolo for £7.3m to Trabzonspor. Last summer it was Toni Borevkovic to Samsunspor for £4.6m. Not life changing amounts, but valuable income to pay the annual wage bill and keep up their investment in their academy setup looking for the next good product to sell on and continue the cycle. Oddly despite selling of players very much being part of Portuguese football you still get a sub section of fans bemoaning the loss. It probably took me two to three seasons to get used to seeing us sell our best players and a decade later I'm at the stage where I just shrug. We've seen Trincão, Hjulmand, Quenda and Morita all leave. By the end of this week they'll most likely have been joined by Pedro Gonçalves and Ousmane Diomande. What's the point in moaning about something you can't change? It's the economic reality of Portuguese football. Only one club can win the league any given season. Only five clubs have ever won the title in all of Portuguese history. I've happily taken coming second last season playing entertaining football over the dog shit turgid football played under Farioli in winning the league with FC Porto last time out. I don't think he'll be long in the job if that's the style of football he continues to serve up every week. I've been watxhing football for forty years now and I've seen some absolute crap served up and spent a lot of money and time travelling to be disappointed. Winning league titles is great but you get a dopamine hit for about six or seven hours followed by the mother of come downs the next day off of a natural high. I've seen us win three league titles and each time the initial reaction is fucking hell were league champions, this is incredible. I didn't have the same thought for the next 364 days. My identity doesn't rely on my football club winning titles, but I would like to be entertained. There was a Porto fan given it the biggun online to one of our mob last week about the Supertaça final and how he'd apparently be watching on crying as they won the first title of the season. I happily pointed out less than politely that no fan outside of those of Porto or Torreense would waste their time tuning in to watch Farioli ball, let alone for the Supertaça. I'm still waiting on a reply. Sometimes you can't argue with the truth. 

Last season Vitória finished ninth and the fact they eventually changed coaches this summer for me is a clear indicator that they considered that to have been a disappointing campaign even if they did win only their second major trophy in the clubs history to add to their Taça de Portugal win. I think for their size they should be pencilling themselves in for 5th or 6th place every season. They'll need to improve on the road to achieve that this forthcoming season. Last time out saw them lose a total of 11 times out of the 17 games played including the 5-1 thumping to Sporting I'd already highlighted above. Just 4 wins and 2 draws, GF 13, GA 32. Oh that's the other thing if you're new to Portuguese football - goalscorers are really hard to find. At home they won 8, drew 4 and lost 5. GF 26, GA 19. They won exactly double the points at home that they did away - 28 to 14. 

Of their 39 goals scored just 22 were from open play. 9 from set pieces, 1 free kick, 5 penalties and the beneficiaries of 2 opponents putting the ball into their own net. They underperformed their XG of 40.7. Their top scorer was Samu with 7 goals, 2 of which came from the penalty spot. Gustavo Silva and Oumar Camará the next best best with 5 apiece. 3 or less goals for the remainder of those who did find the back of the net. On the one hand Vitória clearly need to find someone who can score more regularly, on the other you still only get 3 points for winning 1-0 they you would do it you were to win 3-0. 

I've mentioned the home game twice already so it's only fair I address the elephant in the room and mention that it was the lions who Vitória beat in the semi finals of the Taça da Liga. Had they not then won the Taça da Liga I'd have been more aggrieved but the fact they did manage it, well for me it was something Portuguese football really needed. I mean I really, really could have done without us giving a leg up to Torreense in the Taça de Portugal in May as well but there's no limits on generosity. We have inadvertently fucked the Portuguese European co-efficient but let the record books show that Vitória SC and SCU Torreense won the cups in the 2025/26 season. That's genuinely huge for Portuguese football. Hopefully all clubs look at the Taça de Portugal this season and think why not us? Why just the Taça de Portugal? you may be asking if you're new to Portuguese football. Because they changed the format to the Taça da Liga. I'm not sure Vitória will even have the chance to defend their title. I want to say it's the top six finishers in the Liga from the previous season plus the two promoted sides who'll battle it out. I could just check... Cue the elevator music. No that is correct, I'm not sure why I doubt myself sometimes. We'll see if it continues on in the same vein this season. Whatever the format it also seems important to mention that there were two lower league semi finalists in the Taça de Portugal with Torreense having overcome AD Fafe over two legs. You'll forgive me for wanting more for smaller teams but the stranglehold of Os Três Grandes is never good for the game and it's not like we've ever had the stranglehold either compared to the other two clubs. Braga are part backed by QSI who own PSG and they've never won a Portuguese league title. The amount of stars needing to align to ever find a sixth winner would be incalculable. One of Os Três Grandes having a bad season happens and yes traditionally Sporting having been that one of the three. You might get two of three having by their high standards a poor season. Getting all three to have poor seasons with the financial disparities in Portugal does now seem like an impossibility.

In pre-season Vitória have drawn against Nottingham Forest 1-1, who at the time of writing Sporting are set to face off against this Friday in their final warm up fixture. Their fixture scheduled against Forest's sister club Rio Ave earlier in the week was apparently cancelled. 

I'll update you with any transfer news and the Vitória matchday 1 roundup as and when they've happened. 

Summer Transfer Window

Incoming

Yeimar Mosquera - Aston Villa £408,000
Oliwier Zych - Aston Villa (Loan)
Lohann Doucet - Paris FC (Free)
Patrick Ouotro - Nancy £215,000
Abdoulaye Sidibé - Venezia (Loan)
Rodrigo Macedo - AZ Alkmaar (Free) - signed after matchday 2
Victor Andersson - AIK £430,000 - signed after matchday 2
Toni Borevkovic - Samsunspor (Loan)

Outgoing 

Noah Saviolo to Trabzonspor for £7.1m
Diogo Sousa to Strasbourg for £8.6m
Nélson Oliveira - Released
Orest Lenedenko - Arouca €400,000
Rodrigo Abascal - Al-Ryadh (Free)
Dieu-Merci Michel - União de Leiria (loan). Note also listed elsewhere as a free transfer to United FC in the UAE?
Jota - União Santarem (Free)

Deals after matchday 2

Charles - Released

August 1st update -

Vitória's pre-season results to date

July 11th v Felgueiras 3-1 W

July 18th v Penafiel 5-0 W

July 18th v Acamedica 2-0 W Scorers: Zeega 29 and Costinha 53

July 24th v Al Ahli 3-1 W Scorers: Samu 8, Balieiro 12 and Maga 24. Gonçalves 46 with the consolation.

July 26th v Nottingham Forest 1-1 D

August 1st v Chaves 2-0 W at Estádio do Varzim SC

August 7th update - Change in schedule from Sunday to Friday night for this fixture. 

Matchday 1 - Arouca (H) 0-1 L

The home side fell behind on 52 minutes when Rivas passed straight to Naïs Djouahara in error who promptly squared to Barbero who tucked it into the bottom right hand corner from 15 yards. Arouca were reduced to ten men 2 minutes after the 90 when Monteiro was shown a second yellow for a lunging challenge on the far side of the field on Silva. Despite his claims to have taken the ball he launched the Vitória player in the air and was probably fortunate in hindsight not to be given a straight red and will only be banned for the next match. In the end Barbero's goal enough for all three points. 

Xg 2.22 - 0.49
Total Attempts 24 - 4
Big Chances 3 - 1
Big Chances Missed 3 - 0

Estrela da Amadora v Sporting CP statistics from Matchday 1

Xg 1.10 - 2.63
Total Attempts 8 - 15
Shots on target 3 - 8
Big Chances 2 - 5
Big Chances Missed 2 - 4

In the markets

Sporting CP 19/100
Draw 21/4

Vitória SC 11/1

11th August update - After weeks of protracted negotiations between the two clubs and even a pre-season friendly thrown into the mixer, Nottingham Forest have finally secured the signing of Ousmane Diomande for a few of €40m. Sound the irony claxon that he moves just a couple of weeks after Emerse Faé the manager of the Côte d'Ivoire was removed from his position which significantly increases the 22 year olds chances of selection at international level just at the point that I will no longer be bothering to check on his progress. I wish him well nonetheless and dred the day he gets sold on for an extortionate amount of money to another larger side. 

Team News

Starting XI

Silva, Araújo, Inácio, Quaresma, Vagiannidis, Altimira, Doumbia, Gonçalves, Zalazar, Geny and Ioannidis 

Substitutes 

Virgínia, Fresneda, Dias, Ba, Debast, Guilherme, Lima, Felicíssimo, Derry, Silas, Nel and Suárez 

The mister makes one change to the starting XI from the draw away to Estrela on Matchday 1 as Araújo returns for the youngster Dias. Ba is in the squad for the first time. Debast also makes his return to the squad after long term injury. No Diomande of course, he's now a Forest player. 

Vitória Starting XI 

48 Zych

2 Maga

28 Baliero 

4 Rivas

13 Mendes 

8 Nogueira

16 Beni

11 Silva 

20 Samu

7 Camará

24 Ndoye

Substitutes 

23 Strata

18 Arcanjo

7 Mitrovic

17 Nogueira

44 Doucet 

22 Castillo 

98 Furtado

5 Sidibé 

82 Dias

56 Verdi 

29 Ouotro

First Half

Both sides line up in a 4-2-3-1. The lions in their traditional green and white horizontal stripes. Vitória in all black with silver trim. Jorge Jesus once more in attendance as he was for last week's game away to Estrela. Fans rise to their feet scarves aloft for the first hymn of the season. Vitória kick us off, Sporting attack right to left in the opening 45.

1 Noticeable the space between Vitória defenders when building up from the back, vast gaps either side 

2 Quaresma pulled back trying to play out from the box. Ironically the offence is punished this week 

3 Zalazar found Ioannidis inside the area from the right but the Greeks first touch took him away from goal and Vitória eventually cleared their lines but evidence again of that space available to the lions in the final third 

5 All of Sporting's buildup in attack has come from the right again. We see Pedro Gonçalves sat with Danny Bragança watching on in the executive boxes 

6 Camará playing basketball as Araújo flicks the ball past him and he palms it down instinctively 

6 Far too much on the cross from Araújo which curls across the Vitória box and out on the far right hand side 

7 Dancing feet from Doumbia in midfield mugging Samu off as he waltzed past him with consummate ease. I could watch that on repeat 

7 Corner far side Sporting is headed away

8 GOAL Finally he's broken his cherry. Flávio Gonçalves puts the lions in the lead. Sporting CP 1 Vitória SC 0. Geny with a pass with the outside of the boot to Ioannidis. The Greek muscles his way into the box from the right hand side. He was fouled from behind but the ball continued to the feet of the youngster who swept home from 8 yards 

10 Gonçalves clipped and sent flying

11 We're treated to the reverse angle of the Geny pass for Ioannidis. Touch of elegance and class to that one. We'll add that to the highlights reel with the Doumbia one from earlier 

12 Ndoye makes his presence known in the Sporting box and takes Altimira down who doesn't overdo the contact to the side of his head and is straight up 

13 Too cute from Gonçalves who is dispossessed inside the lions half. Maga broke on the right but thankfully pulled his pass back behind the forward waiting inside the box 

14 Ioannidis hunting in the box. Zych had turned towards his goal and ends up having to dive on it and smother it under pressure. The Greek knows there's a Colombian waiting in the wings

15 Blocked shot from 18 yards from the visitors. That's their first attempt of any sort. Nogueira it was with the chance 

17 Corner lions far side. Geny half a minute ago was off to the races and left his marker for dead but over hit his first cross. Suspicion he was fouled in the second play but the referee went with the corner 

19 Quaresma it was who got the block on the Nogueira chance four minutes ago. Fully committed with his body in the way 

20 Altimira mistake puts the lions on the back foot. Well done Vagiannidis for chasing and hounding down Samu and forcing the turnover 

21 GOAL Sporting CP 2 Vitória 0. Huge smiles from Geny Catamo and well he should. He chests a cross, flicks the ball over the head of Mendes and runs past him. His pass found Ioannidis who turns on a six pence to knock the ball in from 7 yards

23 Geny smashes the ball low into the area. Zych couldn't keep hold of it and it could have gone anywhere 

23 Booking to Altimira for a foul on Silva. Inácio fully vocal to the referee. Yes Gonçalo that's what I wanted to see last week 

24 Irankunda watches on from the front row of the boxes 

25 Baliero leaves his moulds in on Gonçalves and is shown the yellow 

26 Free kick 33 yards out. Zalazar opts to play it to the edge of the six yard box this week rather than going for goal. Inácio stretched but couldn't get anything on it. Goal kick to Vitória 

27 Geny down far side. He looks like he did himself an injury there trying to tackle Samu in the corner 

28 Huge throw from the near side into the lions box reached the edge of the 6 yard box in line with the penalty spot but the lions cleared 

30 Big tackle at the back stops Geny and corner far side. Zalazar started the move deep inside the lions half. He found Doumbia who with great vision sent Geny clear on the right. Somehow Vitória got back in numbers to stop the chance. The move was so quick that even the lions didn't have a chance to react to get up on support. Mendes is was with the flying lunge to stop Geny

31 Gonçalves blocked shot from 23 yards

35 Vagiannidis concedes a foul far side. Looked harsh to me. Ball in from the far side 32 yards out is curled into the box and headed clear. Justice done 

37 Rivas booked for a full blooded challenge on Gonçalves as he looked to race clear from the half way line

38 Zalazar with a long ball tried to find Ioannidis in the box but Zych claimed strongly to pluck the ball from the air 

39 Samu gets it all wrong inside the box and the ball flew wide. Not sure what happened there. Maybe lost his balance, slipped ...

40 GOLAZZO Sporting CP 3 Vitória 0. Altimira wellies one past Zych from 24 yards into the bottom right hand corner. That is sensational because as hard as he hits it he's also passed that into the net. What a goal. We saw him do it in pre-season too. He picks the ball up 30 yards out and only ever had one thought on his mind moving forward. Taps his head in celebration 

42 Referee was running to the side. I was panicking they were going to disallow that goal. Technical issue with his microphone pack 

43 We're back underway 

Plus two shown 

+1 Silva saves at the far post and forces the ball out for a corner. Samu with a header down from about 2 yards just beyond the far post

+2 I thought that was a replay but I think the exact same thing happened in the second play, just Silva scrambled the ball away. Wow wow wow the replay from behind shows the ball about 90% over the line and somehow Silva trapped it against the post and got it clear. Scare for the lions there from a shot from 2 yards out from Samu. What a difference a week makes for him and Quaresma with him getting the decision earlier in the half when pulled back and fortune smiling on the keeper tonight. Those are the fine margins of football people's. 

Half time 

Sporting CP 3 Vitória SC 0

Scintillating form from the lions that half. I wrote in pre-season that Flávio Gonçalves was clearly saving his first senior goal for when it actually counts. Genuinely couldn't have been happier and more excited when that goal went in. He's deserved his place in the eleven on merit and more than deserved that goal. The Geny pass for the second was breathtakingly brilliant and a complete piss take at the same time. Great in turn from Ioannidis to still do the hard work and finish it with his back to goal. Finally that goal by Altimira. Woof. That one stayed hit. 

It was definitely a half that the lions dominated and played some wonderful football and only in the last 30 seconds did we see Vitória cause any real problems when Samu looked like he'd forced the ball home but somehow Rui Silva kept it the right side of the line. There must have been a fair part of the ball that was over. Ioannidis has perfectly dealt with the shadow of Suárez hanging over him and led the line to great effect and been a real handful. Doumbia has been the player we saw in pre-season. The real star has been Geny down the right. If he's sulking about not moving to Sunderland then he's not showing it. He had a huge grin on his face for the assist on the Ioannidis goal. Long way back for Vitória to get anything from this game now. We've seen them come back against the lions at home but that was in the rain fuelled by Rui Borges exit. I don't think the lions will let this lead slide like they did last week. Xg 1.12 to 0.34. 5 attempts to 4. 

Second half 

➡️⬅️ Triple substitution from the visitors. Doucet on for Beni. Strata for Maga and Nogueira for Camará. Double Nogueira for Vitória now that won't be confusing at all. 

The lions get us back underway 

47 Ndoye gets his foot onto the end of a cross but not sure you could say it was a shot, more a deflection high out for a goal kick from 8 yards 

48 We've drums somewhere in the crowd trying to whip the home fans into life

48 Samu penalised for a trip on Altimira 

49 Great skill from Zalazar down the right as he nutmegs Mendes 

50 Sporting hungry for a fourth goal they're not done yet. Doumbia's pass had too much on it inside the box 

51 Silva's header goes over from 7 yards. He was trying to claim it came off the head of Quaresma and out for a corner 

52 Just a reminder Sporting scored five in this same fixture on Matchday 32 of last season. Well technically six with the Debast own goal 

53 Certainly whoever comes on for the lions today needs to show more than they did against Estrela last week. Lions are top by the way on 4 points as it stands 

53 Booking to Geny for a foul on Mendes. He caught the top of his boot. No complaints with that decision 

54 Free kick 30 yards out found Ndoye on the edge of the six yard box but his body position was all wrong and he heads it over the bar. Good delivery from Samu though in fairness 

56 Hearts in mouth as Rui Silva came to claim on the edge of the area, clatters into Samu making him lose control of the ball and the Vitória player puts it past the far post with the goal wide open 

58 Vitória just getting a grip in this game. Wonder if we'll see Borges normal changes on the hour mark 

58 Delayed free kick from the referee who tries to play advantage after Silva flattened Vagiannidis but brought play back 

59 Hospital ball out to Araújo inside the Sporting half. Unsurprisingly he couldn't control it. The best thing from the lions this half is the noise from the stands 

61 Sporting dispossessed twice inside their half. Lackadaisical approach from one or two players there. Altimira I think the second time who tries a drag back on the edge of the box 

62 Araújo nutmegs M Nogueira who didn't take too kindly to it. He's shown a yellow card

63 Silva takes down Vagiannidis after the Greek mugs him off on the near touchline. There have been some real moments of beauty in this game 

64 The lions need someone to take hold of this game in the Vitória half. Same …

65 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Vitória 1. Samu fires home from 16 yards. I was going to say same problem as last week against Estrela whereby they just can't get a grip on the game at all

66 ⬅️➡️ Gonçalves for Suárez and Geny for Guilherme. There was a piercing whistle. I hope that wasn't for the Colombian 

67 So like last week a game of two halves only this time the lions had raced to a 3-0 lead before conceding. They've allowed…Vitória too much time on the ball... 

68 GOAL Sporting CP 3 Vitória 2. Rui Silva left flat footed as Ndoye powers home a header from 5 yards 

69 Let's see where the leaders are in this team because at the moment I'm seeing none at all. This half has been an Omni fucking shambles 

70 Booking flashes onto the screen for Quaresma. Not sure what that was for. I'd guess dissent because there were no players down that I could see 

70 Would not surprise me if this goes 3-3 very soon the way Sporting are playing 

71 I don't think we've even had a shot this half. No we haven't. Vitória have 10 attempts to 5 now 

73 Araújo tries to get something going on the far side but was well tackled 

74 ➡️⬅️ Ioannidis for Derry 

75 We're being shown a replay of Strata shoving Zalazar off the ball to then cross for the second. There wasn't much in it in fairness but again I would guess that maybe Quaresma was remonstrating about the lack of a free kick in the build up

75 Silva flashes a shot from 24 yards that didn't miss by much 

76 ➡️⬅️ Verdi on for G Nogueira 

76 Ndoye with an arm in the face of Quaresma, free kick awarded

77 Silva booked for a foul near side on Quaresma. He caught him with his knee 

78 Inácio getting stuck into the referee again. He's been told to be more vocal clearly at some point during the week

79 Vagiannidis was caught at some point after the foul on Quaresma. My apologies it was Silva who caught the Greek in the follow up.

80 Applause from the home fans as Vagiannidis is taken off on a stretcher. Fresneda is quickly getting his top on. Lions temporarily down to town men 

81 Luis Suárez left his arm in on a Vitória player. Buys some time to get Fresneda on 

82 Sporting still down to ten men. Whistles ringing out. Not sure what for. Quaresma punts the ball out 

82 ➡️⬅️ Fresneda for Vagiannidis 

83 Suárez wrestled to the ground free kick awarded 

84 Zalazar taken out. Referee played advantage which was no advantage at all. Would have been 25 yards out centrally or less 

86 Huge cheer for Suárez who tries to make something come alive down the left

86 Suárez wins a corner far side. Headed clear 

86 Sporting still haven't had a single effort this half. The internet is going to be going into a meltdown after the final whistle whatever the result from certain sections of the clubs fanbase you can guarantee that 

87 ⬅️➡️ Samu for Ouotro

87 Offside flag against Zalazar when Sporting had virtually the entire Vitória half to attack 

88 Someone has had the bright idea to try get some atmosphere into the ground and lift the home players 

89 Huge cheer as Fresneda slides in and clears for a throw near side 

89 Derry flattened by Verdi. Inácio shown a yellow for dissent 

Plus six shown 

90 Suárez feels the arm of Rivas into the back of his neck and buys some time 

+2 Fucking hell football is not good for the heart

+2 Silva stretches for a loose ball inside the Sporting box by the goal line and puts it out for a goal kick to the lions 

+3 Sporting playing keep ball. Guilherme pulled back. Free kick awarded 

+4 Brilliant from Guilherme as he wins a corner near side 

+4 Another minute run down 

+5 One to go. Jesus wept. Throw to Sporting far side. Suárez drops the ball and eeks out another few seconds

+5 Derry kicks to touch like a rugby player. Final whistle blows 

Full time 

Sporting CP 3 Vitória SC 2

The final word 

I'm off to find a quiet dark corner, try avoid having a heart attack and practice some deep breathing. Jesus wept they made those three points hard for themselves. I genuinely cannot tell you the last time Sporting did not register a shot on target over 45 minutes. I'd guess at something like BVB away maybe. It's been a long, long time. Vitória deserved something in the end but that's the benefit of a 3-0 lead. They left themselves with far too much to do but they gave it a good go nonetheless.

Look I know it's probably the biggest footballing cliche around but that doesn't mean it's not true - That was truly a game of two halves. Those younger than me will be having a meltdown unable to take any positives from the game whereas being older and hopefully wiser, you do get more philosophical in your old age. Also you get closer to dropping down dead of heart failure but there you go. 

The reality is that they were full value for their 3-0 half time lead so one half brilliant, one half looking like teenage boys at a disco desperate to ask a girl to dance and failing miserably. Last week clearly didn't help matters when they threw away a 2-0 lead. The internet spoke about what weren't wrong over 20 minutes and not what went right over 70 and that'll happen today so I'm going to try be a grown up and the voice of reason. 

Yes we've lost some big name players in the summer. We've also made wholesale changes to the squad this summer. They've played 180 minutes of competitive football together. Sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth as you iron out the creases and fine tune the operation. Rome was not built in a day my friends. 

Yes it's slightly disconcerting that in both matches they allowed their opponents to score twice in the second half but they dug in and they got the win. I genuinely think people need to temper their expectations of a new team and maybe more importantly stop listening to the shite being pedalled online by the Portuguese media. Because the truth is from 180 minutes played they've looked great for 115 of them and wanting their mothers bossum for 65 of them. It's a work in progress. They got it over the line this week and really that's all that matters. If they finish the month with ten points you'd take that all day long however they collect the points. You don't get extra points for style. Rui Borges will work on the issues before the really big tests comes around of that I've no doubt. 

Do we need a new goalkeeper? I think so. Rui Silva seems to have the yips and we won't always get away with going ahead in games and having that advantage. We know football is a ruthless business and keepers kop flak more than any other player on the pitch when it goes wrong. But confidence at the back also starts from your goalkeeper. It also should stem from your captain being a leader. Inácio was certainly booked for dissent and I'm going to hazard a guess that's what Quaresma was booked for too. If they both carry on like that every week then it'll be Ba and Debast at the back by default whilst the other two sit out a game suspension. 

We needed some character in the second half and we saw maybe one or two flashes of it. A fully fit Maxi Araújo would have been helpful and the same goes for Luis Suárez but both produced moments that brought the crowd to their feet and sometimes that's all you need. That something to cheer on, to shake the anxiety out of the stands. Fans play their part as much as the players over 90 minutes and when the tension is palpable in the stands it seeps down onto the pitch. We're all human and we're all fallible so please none of us act like our own shit doesn't stink. 

You build character by overcoming adversity and by looking yourself in the mirror. You learn from your mistakes and you try put them right. Remember what it was exactly you did when everything was going right. Slowly but surely it'll all come together. Because if you think it should all be gelled together after 180 minutes of football then you're a fucking idiot with your head up your own arse. Don't bring last season into the equation because it's a different squad of a player's at different points in their careers. And don't throw statistics at Rui Borges like no other manager has seen leads thrown away. Fucking Saint Ruben of Amorim. Didn't see his sire throw away three leads against Braga to draw 3-3. Didn't see his side go 2-0 up against Vizela first day and go 2-2. Didn't see his side race to a 3-0 lead in the Supertaça against FC Porto and then lose 4-3 after extra time. Oh no wait that's exactly what happened. You know what also happened was he had the time to build on his vision and carry it through. As I wrote after Estrela theres a reason the word supporters carries within it the word support. 

Yes it's worrying when you can't even fashion a chance over 45 minutes but I've seen the complacency from Sporting under so many misters that it's like a second skin that I now wear. Sometimes it does them some good to have their pulses raised and not just let them think they're better than they really are.

Right enough negativity. Let's go with the positives and in isolation there was a mass of them in the opening 45 at least. There were a couple of times where yes they were complacent. Don't do drag backs on the edge of your own box would be a good starting point although that was the second half but you get my point. Yes they were fortunate this week that Rui Silva kept Samu’s effort out seconds before half time but actually I think had that gone in it may have been more beneficial because they'd have had a rocket up their arses at half time instead of the one they'll get at full time when the dressing room door closes. 

Doumbia looked much better in the first half than he did against Estrela. I was acutely more aware of Altimira this week and not just because he scored though I acknowledge that said more about me last week that it did him. I actually thought Vagiannidis played quite well tonight which I'm not sure I've ever written and I'm not saying that because he was stretchered off in the second half. Fucking sods law that one. The real stars of the show though were Geny and Ioannidis. So let's do man of the match. Or I think we'll have to call this one man of the first half. 

I'm going to go Vagiannidis for the first ever time in my final four. Look there are times I've watched him higher up the pitch and seen something but he does feel a liability in defence. However I did think he played well and importantly I want the kid to do well and let's hope the stretcher was a precaution. Vote two goes to Geny who I'd give an 8.5 to first half. He was terrific entertainment and all the good attacking intent started with him. Vote three goes to Altimira. Again I'm largely concentrating on the opening 45 in which he did impress me, scored a huge goal af real quality which proved to be the winner. Finally the final vote goes to the man my phone likes to all Doris Ioannidis. I typed F o t i s. I have to sneak it past it with spaces. Oh how we could have done with him in the final months of last season. He gives us something that Suárez doesn't and you need a range of keys to open padlocks up front. He bullied their defence at times in the opening 45, scored for the second time in two games and truthfully you can see him scoring one a game which if true and he stays fit would be 34 over the course of a season. He is really starting to warm on me. Oh and he claimed an assist if you like those types of things. I'd like to see if he can play together with Suárez up front. I never thought Paulinho and Gyökeres could when they were together. I'd rather the opposing defenders had the headache than Borges of having to leave one out potentially. You can't blame him for having no service knowledge the second half. I'm going to give him my man of the match. 

Final Xg feels telling 1.12 apiece. The key indicator being that the lions came from 5 attempts in which they scored 3 times. I'd you had a 60% conversion rate you'd be laughing your bollocks off over the course of a season I'm telling you now. They had 12 attempts to register the same Xg. Three points in the bag. For now that's all that's important as I do my final edit and at least we're top of the table even if it's only by benefit of having played on Friday night. I've no idea where we'll come in May but we can say for 19 hours at least we were top. 

4th September update - 

Incoming transfer: Arnel Jakupovic - Osijek £516,000

6th September updated - 

Outgoing transfer: Vando Félix - Torreense (Loan)