Ricardo Esgaio on Sporting's 3-1 win in Coimbra

Ricardo Esgaio made his 2015/16 I Liga debut this weekend, in Sporting’s 3-1 win over Académica.

“We started really strong and achieved our objective of getting the three points. We came into this after two hard results, but we did well today”, affirmed the young wing-back at the final whistle, adding: “We have to keep working hard the team. Everyone knows what Sporting has been going through right now, but we have to keep working hard.”

Assistant coach Raul José also met with the press, stepped in for Jorge Jesus after the Sporting coach was sent off just before half-time: “We started strong and quickly went two goals ahead, but the referee got Académica back into the game and we had to take a different approach in the second-half. It was an intense game, but the result could have been even more one-sided if it wasn’t for the penalty.”