The team win 2-0 in a dominant display against FC Alverca

Facing FC Alverca for the second time in a week, Sporting Clube de Portugal won 2-0 at home on Matchday 10 of the Liga Portugal season. Second half goals from Fotis Ioannidis and Pedro Gonçalves earned the victory at the Estádio José Alvalade on a rainy night.

Before kickoff Geny Catamo was honoured for reaching 100 games for Sporting CP, with club president Frederico Varandas presenting the Mozambican with a commemorative shirt and trophy.

Sporting CP had won 5-1 against the visitors in the Taça da Liga just three days prior, but it was the opponents who provided an early chance in this league encounter. Rui Silva caught Nabil Touaizi's cross-shot, in what was the only opportunity for FC Alverca in the first half.

At the other end, Luis Suárez also came close to scoring, finding himself free in the area after two minutes following an excellent run by Gonçalves, André Gomes, but didn't connect well with the ball. Five minutes later, Francisco Trincão attempted an acrobatic shot from João Simões’ sprint down the left, but saw his shot deflected by a defender.

After fifteen minutes, an injury to Iván Fresneda meant he would be replaced by Georgios Vagiannidis.

A minute later, Simões appeared in the middle of the area to head the ball from Geny Catamo's cross, albeit unable to keep his effort on target. In the next move, it was the number 10 himself who tried for a goal; the winger's shot from the right side of the area hit the post with a resounding thud and went out of play.

Sporting CP were completely dominating possession and creating good opportunities to score. On 25 minutes, the FC Alverca goalkeeper parried a shot from Suárez out for a corner, as the onslaught continued.

Almost half an hour into the game, Suárez had the best chance of the entire first half. The Colombian was quick to recover a loose ball in the area and shot towards goal, but defender Bastien Meupiyou managed to block the ball twice on the goalline with his head.

Gonçalves, Ousmane Diomande and Simões also had good chances to break the deadlock, but none of the three managed to capitalise on the consecutive moves created by Sporting CP.

During the break, an intense downpour at the Estádio José Alvalade made it a wet second half. But the rain didn't dampen Sporting CP's momentum, and they won a corner after just twenty seconds.

Accumulating a series of such set pieces at the start of the second half, they finally put the ball into the net in the 49th minute, but Suárez's goal was disallowed for offside.

Just before the hour, Rui Borges brought on Fotis Ioannidis and Geovany Quenda to switch things up for his side. It proved to be a wise choice, as the former would take only eight minutes to score: Following another corner, the striker jumped above the defence to open the scoring. It was the Greek's second goal against FC Alverca in three days.

The second goal for Sporting CP was not long in coming. In the 74th minute, Gonçalves received a precise pass from Morten Hjulmand and, from distance, unleashed a powerful shot to score a fantastic goal.

Alisson Santos was brought on for Sporting CP, and just before the final whistle it was his turn to try his luck on two occasions: the Brazilian's shot, from a cut inside, grazed André Gomes' post. Then the virtuoso again aimed for goal, this time after a run down the left from midfield, but missed by centimetres.

A 2-0 scoreline was enough to earn all three points, and now the team switch focus to their next fixture. On Tuesday night they travel to Turin, where they face Juventus FC in the Champions League.

Sporting CP: Rui Silva [GK], Pedro Gonçalves (Hidemasa Morita, 78’), Geny Catamo (Geovany Quenda, 59’), Francisco Trincão, Maxi Araújo, Iván Fresneda (Georgios Vagiannidis, 15’), Gonçalo Inácio, Ousmane Diomande, Morten Hjulmand [C], João Simões (Fotis Ioannidis, 59’) and Luis Suárez (Alisson Santos, 78’).