Domingos made two changes to his starting lineup for the Thursday night encounter, giving the nod to Rodríguez and Carriço in place of Polga and Matías Fernandez. It was obviously an attacking setup fielded by the Alvalade boss, with the Lions coming out in an aggressive 4x3x3 against an ultra-defensive Moreirense 4x3x2x1.

The first real chance of the game came on 17 minutes, when Schaars whipped in a free-kick that forced Ribeiro into a save. Capel was next to try his luck with a bursting run down the left in the 28th minute. Augusto attempted to scramble way the Spaniards first effort, but the speedy winger was on hand to pounce on the loose ball and tuck away Sporting’s first goal of the night.
Surprisingly, Moreirense quickly responded, as Luís Pinto picked out Ghilas with a cross on 35 minutes to leave Marcelo with no chance of keeping out the equaliser. The team from northern district of Moreira de Cónegos again threatened three minutes later, with Ghilas this time setting up Luís Pinto for an effort that he put wide of the post.

Domingos rang the changes for the start of the second half, introducing Bojinov and Matias Fernandez for Ribas and Daniel Carriço.

Sporting spent long spells in possession in the Moreirense half, pegging the visitors back to their 18-yard box. Domingos Paciência’s boys were raining down chances on goal, but the final touch was lacking and the lower division outfit somehow held out.

The boss threw Jeffren into the mix in one last effort to snatch three points and it was the signing from Barcelona that made the difference, bursting forward to win a penalty for the Lions two minutes into injury time. Bojinov stepped up to take the spot kick, but Ricardo Ribeiro pulled of a fine save to keep his side in the fight for an unlikely point.

Match report
Estádio José Alvalade
Referee: Marco Ferreira.

SPORTING: Marcelo, João Pereira, Onyewu, Rodriguez, Insúa, Elias, Carriço (Matías Fernandez, 45 m), Schaars, Carrillo (Jeffren, 70 m), Capel and Ribas (Bojinov, 45 m).
Coach: Domingos Paciência.
Unused substitutes: Rui Patrício, Evaldo, André Santos and Renato Neto.
Goal: Capel (28 m).

MOREIRENSE: Ribeiro, Chico, Pinto, Anilton Júnior, Augusto, Bru (Júlio César, 57 m), Tales, Luís Pinto (Wagner, 75 m), Gonçalves, Pintassilgo and Ghilas.
Coach: Jorge Casquilha.
Unused substitutes: Alexandre Ferreira, Bruno Moreira, Robson, Ricardo Fernandes and João Vicente.
Cards: Yellow, Augusto (64 and 90+2 m), Júlio César (57 m), Pintassilgo (67 m), Tales (79 m) and Ghilas (81 m). Red, Augusto (90+2 m).
Goal: Ghilas (35 m).

Text: Nélida Gomes
Photos: César Santos