After a 2-0 win over Portimonense SC, the coach praises the handling of the game

After a Liga NOS Matchday 20 win against Portimonense SC, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim praised his team for their showing and admitted the importance of two goals scored in quick succession.

“It is always important. Those were decisive goals. For the second, we took advantage of a dead ball, pressed, won possession and finished. We can never expect the goal to happen sooner or later -that doesn't exist. We have to go looking for it and work hard, which is what we did, even though we had some chances in which we could have finished much better”, he said in his post-match press conference.

“In the first half we played well and always found a man free. When it was 2-0 we did much better than in other games in managing the game. In the second part the surface made things difficult, because we wanted to build from the back and many times we had to play through. I think this was an entirely fair result. Portimonense SC grew in the second half, but we managed the game well”, Amorim stated.

After explaining that Paulinho had dropped out of the squad due to discomfort felt in the final training session, and that it will be 'difficult' for him to feature against FC Porto next weekend, the coach singled out Zouhair Feddal for praise.

“He has adapted well. We knew him from his time at Real Betis and saw many games of his. The big surprise was his fitness, not his quality. He brings us a lot of commitment and quality, and he is very good on the ball. He marked many quality forwards in the Spanish league, and that makes players grow. He is a very important player for us”.

Finally, Amorim admitted that it is normal for Sporting CP fans to be confident, but stressed that the team's focus is always on the next game.

“Football is all about the moment, and I realise that some fans will never forgive us if we lose this advantage, but that is more a matter for the coach. The players are visibly growing, the squad is becoming more valuable and Sporting CP are now more of a club in all areas. Sporting CP always go out there to win. The only person who can deal with this problem is the coach and we are prepared for that. We are going game by game, without additional pressure. That's our idea”, he concluded.