An early Luis Suárez goal was cancelled out by a Rodrigo Zalazar equaliser in stoppage time at Alvalade as Sporting and Braga played out a 1-1 draw in Lisbon tonight.
Geovany Quenda stung Braga goalkeeper Luka Hornicek’s hands in the opening minutes after a sweeping move by the hosts. On 18 minutes Sporting took the lead when Pote did well to beat his man, crossed low, and Suárez was on hand to score for the fourth match in a row.
Braga reacted well to falling behind and enjoyed long spells of possession although chances were at a premium at both ends of the pitch.
The pattern of the game did not change in the second half with Braga pushing hard for an equaliser and Sporting happy to play on the break.
The Lions were playing a dangerous game, with goalkeeper Rui Silva forced into a miraculous save to deny Leonardo Lelo and the visitors having a loud penalty shout for a possible Maxi Araújo handball turned down.
Just when it seemed the three points would be won by the home side, Sporting were punished for their lack of killer instinct as Morten Hjulmand was penalised for a pull on Gustaf Lagerbielke in the penalty box at a corner and the referee awarded a penalty after being alerted to the foul by the VAR.
Zalazar made no mistake from the penalty spot and for the second year running Braga take a point from Alvalade.
Sporting 1-1 Braga highlights
Sporting: Rui Silva, Georgios Vagiannidis (Iván Fresneda, 89’), Gonçalo Inácio, Zeno Debast, Maxi Araújo, Hidemasa Morita (Giorgi Kochorashvili, 64’), Morten Hjulmand, Geovany Quenda (Geny Quenda, 89’), Francisco Trincão (Alisson Santos, 64’), Pedro Gonçalves, Luis Suárez (Fotis Ioannidis, 72’)
Braga: Lukas Hornicek, Víctor Gómez (Gabri Martínez, 72’), Gustaf Lagerbielke, Sikou Niakaté (Bright Arrey-Mbi, 72’), Leonardo Lelo (Sandro Vidigal, 82’), Ricardo Horta, João Moutinho (Gorby Baptiste, 54’), Vitor Carvalho, Florian Grillitsch, Pau Victor (Fran Navarro, 46’), Rodrigo Zalazar
Goals:
[1-0] Luis Suárez, 18’
[1-1] Rodrigo Zalazar, 90+4’
