Portuguese Football in English
Sporting suffered a scare in the Taça da Liga final, going down early to Vitória Setúbal in Braga, before earning a victory through sheer tenacity and coming out on top in a penalty shootout. The win avenges the loss on penalties a decade ago to the same club in the very first edition of this tournament.
With the clubs sitting at the opposite ends of the league table, one could be forgiven for thinking that this would be a comfortable victory for the Lisbon giant. It was anything but.
Vitória Setúbal also reach Saturday's showpiece
The first trophy of 2017/18 will be decided in Braga on Saturday in a Taça da Liga (Portuguese League Cup) final that will be a repeat of the first final of a competition that began ten years ago, when Vitória Setúbal beat Sporting in a penalty shootout.
It was precisely a penalty shootout that sent Sporting into the final after a hard-fought goalless draw with FC Porto tonight. Yesterday, Vitória rode their luck to win their semi-final 2-0 over second-tier Oliveirense, Gonçalo Paciência and goalkeeper Pedro Trigueira the stars of the show for José Couceiro's men.
Another week goes by in Liga NOS and the title race has tightened up further, with only two points between 1st and 3rd after Sporting failed to match victories for Benfica and Porto.
The three continue to battle it out for the league title but if rumours are to be believed they are also competing for the services of Vitória Guimarães’ Raphinha, a player who is having an outstanding season for Os Conquistadores.
He scored one and made another in his team’s 3-1 victory over Estoril, and Raphinha is PortuGOAL’s Figure of the Week.
Last week's 'Estoril-gate' turned in a unique twist in the race for the Primeira Liga title. With Porto left with half a game left to play from Round 18, and Sporting up first in Matchday 19, the Lions had the chance to go four point clear at the top of the table, even if only for a couple of hour.
Against expectations, the Lions wouldn't hold onto the coveted top spot even until the end of Friday night, though, as a late Edinho penalty secured a 1-1 draw for Vitória de Setúbal and opened the door back up for Porto to rise once again to the summit of the league table.
The Dragons duly complied by defeating Tondela 1-0 before Benfica soured Sporting's weekend to a greater degree with a triumph of their own, dismantling Chaves 3-0 and moving to within a point of their city rivals. With just two points now separating the top three, PortuGOAL details the top action.
Fredy Montero yesterday re-signed for Sporting, precisely two years after the Alvalade favourite had left the Lisbon club.
The last time Montero wore a Sporting shirt he scored the winning goal against Académica, giving Sporting a 3-2 victory. There was no celebration from the Colombian; he knew he would be gone shortly.
It was an important moment in Sporting’s ultimately futile title push that season. Now, Sporting will be hoping his return can provide these important goals in another big tilt at the Primeira Liga championship for Jorge Jesus and Sporting, in search of the prize that has eluded the club since 2001-2002.
