It was a frustrating night for Sporting in Lisbon tonight as Arouca continued their hugely impressive season by taking a point at Alvalade.
Pote missed a chance to put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot, and Antony gave the visitors a half-time lead.
Sporting threw everything at the high-flying northerners and eventually equalised when Pote atoned for his earlier miss from the spot by earning and converting a late penalty, but the home side could not find a winner despite 11 minutes of stoppage time.
Sandwiched between the two legs of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Juventus, it was no surprise that Sporting coach Rúben Amorim made a raft of changes after the 1-0 defeat in Turin on Thursday. Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Esgaio and Morita all began on the bench, while Marcus Edwards (stomach bug) and St. Juste (injured) dropped out of the squad altogether. Ousmane Diomandé, Matheus Reis, Hector Bellerín, Manuel Ugarte and Arthur Gomes took their place in the starting XI.
Arouca came into the match on the back on an unbeaten run of six matches, form that has catapulted the northerners into a European qualification spot. And Armando Evangelista’s side soon showed why they are having such a successful season, the visitors extremely well organised and disciplined, and not in the least overawed by facing their more storied opponents at Alvalade.
Chermiti heavily involved
The hosts had to wait until the 15th minute to create the first moment of danger, with Pote and Chermiti attacking a whipped-in cross from the left by Nuno Santos, the 18-year-old striker meeting the ball but failing to make a clean connection as the ball ricocheted narrowly wide.
Chermiti again went close soon afterwards. Diomandé released Gomes with an excellent pass behind the Arouca defence, the Brazilian sent over an inviting cross that the onrushing striker just failed to prod into the net.
The lively Chermiti at last managed to get a shot off on target, but his low angled effort was easily gathered by Arouca goalkeeper Ignacio Arruabarrena.
The next time Chermiti was involved there was a tangible reward for the hosts. Galovic was penalised for handling the ball in the box when tangling with the striker, after a VAR intervention and check on the pitch-side screen. Pote struck the penalty low to Arruabarrena’s left, but the Uruguayan goalkeeper got down swiftly to make the save.
Arouca take their chance
Things got even better for Arouca soon afterwards as they took the lead with practically the only moment of danger they had created in the first half.
A counter-attack saw the ball swung into the box, where Diomandé fluffed an attempted clearance, inadvertently assisting Antony behind him, who rounded Sporting goalkeeper Adán and rolled the ball into the net.
At the break Amorim brought on Morita and took off Bellerín, Gomes dropping to right wing-back and Pedro Gonçalves pushing further forward.
Sporting 1-1 Arouca match highlights
Woodwork comes to Arouca’s rescue – twice
The Japanese midfielder, who had impressed so much against Juventus, almost made an immediate impact, his header from a Nuno Santos cross thumping against the crossbar and back into play with Arruabarrena beaten.
Arruabarrena then saved superbly from Nuno Santos as Sporting began to exert heavy pressure.
It seemed it just would not be Sporting’s night as Chermiti became the second Sporting player to see a header bounce of the woodwork after flicking on Pote’s cross.
The crowd grew increasingly impatient with Arouca’s players spending plenty of time on the floor as a series of injuries led to a stop-start period of play.
Nerveless Pote
With five minutes remaining, Sporting got a golden chance to equalise. Pote raced into the box and fell under the challenge of Arouca captain João Basso, the referee pointing to the spot. Although he had missed a penalty in the first half, Pote himself took on the responsibility of making amends, confidently striking his shot this time to Arruabarrena’s right. 1-1.
Sporting’s fans raised the noise level, especially soon afterwards when the electronic board signalled 11 minutes of stoppage time had been allotted.
By this stage Amorim had pushed Coates up as an auxiliary striker, and the Sporting captain almost snatched the winner in the 99th minute, his header from Rochinha’s cross drifting just wide.
Arouca held on to the joy of their small but noisy legion of travelling fans and Evangelista’s men look an increasingly good bet to secure fifth place and international football next season.
Conclusion – Arouca lay bare Sporting’s problems
In two matches this season Arouca have taken four points off Sporting. Both matches followed a similar pattern, with the Lisbon club dominating the ball and creating, and spurning, a hatful of chances – curiously even more so in the reverse fixture which Arouca won 1-0 than tonight.
And in both matches Arouca have made good on the scraps falling their way. Antonio Adán had barely a save to make in either match, but when the chance came, Sporting’s defence was breached.
Sporting’s terrible conversion rate despite high chance creation and the ability to concede from the few chances they allow is basically the story of their season. The quality of Sporting’s play has arguably not been significantly worse than in the last two seasons, but lack of efficacy in both boxes has cost them dear.
That is to take nothing away from Arouca, though, who as one of the clubs with the fewest resources in the Primeira Liga have produced a magnificent campaign, with Evangelista squeezing every last drop of potential out of a modest squad, resulting in a highly cohesive team who are where they are in the table on merit.
By Tom Kundert, at Alvalade
Goals:
[0-1] Antony, 39’
[1-1] Pote (pen), 87’
