Penalty, who takes it with Suarez out? At least if Pote can make it 1-1 early it continues this momentum
What competition did Richie Mangas win to become a Sporting player for a season? Need to apply myself at this rate...
3-1 Trinaco with another well manoeuvred goal. Hopefully we can get him and Pote off in the second half and leave Hjulmand and Maxi on the bench for Tuesday
He does! 4-2 late to calm the nerves, great pass through to him and a class finish after Faye faffed his chance. Genuinely great to hold the ball and then play that pass perfectly by Quaresma, sometimes he surprises me when he pushes forward
The Porto coach ran around the world after the 2-1 goal…should have saved some energy to coach his defense the final 5 minutes hahahaha
2 points less... Maybe it's not over yet. Wish we had won at Braga. Still need them to drop more points, and a tie on points isn't enough as head to head we're at a disadvantage
I swear I actually miss Sergio Conceição at Porto, Farioli has a fetish with us at this point. Every Press Conference he talks about us.
Massive Porto cagão incoming. The way Porto was trying to con the ref after Fama equalized. The way Farioli looked like he was folding under the pressure, the way Porto players were psychologically melting down vs Famalicao, the fact that Farioli has a history of melting down, the fact that he couldn't stop whining about Sporting in the post game press conference today when he should be focused on his own team. This has all the ingredients of a Farioli cagão.
Sporting starting XI - No Hjulmand as he's suspended Rui Silva; Fresneda, Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio, Maxi Araújo; Morita, João Simões; Geny, Trincão, Pote; Luis Suárez Arsenal starting XI Raya; Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Calafiori; Zumbimendi, Rice, Odegaard; Madueke, Trossard, Gyökeres
Halftime. 0-0. Midfield is too weak. Games too big for dudes like Simoes and Morita. Need Debast in there.
That's what happens when you have players overcompensating for trash like Morita and leaving Havertz wide open. Two things stand out: Sporting was afraid to take risks with their passes and started playing it safe, creating fewer dangerous opportunities. Guys we're making ribs and players refused to pass to them and instead pass sideways or backwards. Rui Borges doesn't trust the bench and we're going to have a team in tatters in future games. A testament to how poorly managed the summer and winter transfer windows were.
We definitely need more depth for next season, too many competitions and too many injuries Morita and Hjulmand are likely gone so our midfield needs a complete overhaul.
Btw Simoes has gotten stick but we weren't pressing as well when he left. And Bragança failed to mark Havertz on the goal
0-0 halftime… We have had lots of ball but maybe 1 clear chance that Pote missed… Need to be much better in the 2nd half