The team triumph 3-0 at home

Sporting CP defeated GD Estoril Praia 3-0 at the Estádio José Alvalade on Friday night, on the 24th matchday of the Liga Portugal season. Luis Suárez scored twice, with the goals capped off by Daniel Bragança. The team remain second in the table, four points off the top spot.
 
Up against the side seventh in the division and in strong form, Sporting CP coach Rui Borges repeated the same starting XI he had used against Moreirense FC. Pedro Gonçalves, returning from suspension, was on the bench,  but unavailable were Ricardo Mangas, Fotis Ioannidis, Giorgi Kochorashvili and Zeno Debast.
 
There was an immediate opener for the home team, coming in only the sixth minute when Francisco Trincão delivered a perfect ball to set up Luis Suárez. He burst into the box and, with one touch, converted to make it 1-0.

Soon after, Trincão again set up Suárez, who this time was denied by Joel Robles with an instinctive save. Luís Guilherme, on the rebound, shot high over the bar. 
 
However, it didn't take long for the celebrations to continue, and Suárez was again involved: A masterful chipped pass from Morten Hjulmand set him up and after controlling the ball, he struck again for his 22nd league goal of the season.
 
In response, GD Estoril Praia's Ricard Sánchez managed a timid shot that Rui Silva saved. 
 
Back at the other end, Geny Catamo almost increased the lead, but after dribbling past his opponent, he mishit poorly from inside the area. Trincão also tried his luck, but his shot went straight to Robles.
 
The pace of the game slowed down until halftime, and the visiting team took advantage to increase their possession. Rui Silva made a save to keep out João Carvalho's shot in the best chance for GD Estoril Praia.

In the opening moments of the second half,  Suárez issued another warning, this time from outside the area, which Joel Robles found tricky to deal with.

With Sporting faltering in their link-up play, the team from Linha, who arrived at Alvalade with the fourth-best attack in the league (ahead of FC Porto), stole the ball more frequently and quickly launched attacks -as evidenced by a wayward shot from Pedro Carvalho.
 
Borges made a change in the 70th minute, bringing on João Simões and Souleymane Faye, The latter made an initial run almost immediately, but his shot was too tame to cause problems. Shortly after, Maxi Araújo had a defender clear his effort off the line for a corner.

The substitutions did Sporting CP good, as they regained their composure. Georgios Vagiannidis, Daniel Bragança, and Nuno Santos – making his league debut for the season – came on.  Vagiannidis collected a ball in the area and shot straight at Joel Robles, in one of the better chances of the half.

A duo returning after long struggles with injury combined to kill the game off: Nuno Santos, on the left, launched a through ball into the area for Bragança, and he turned to shake off his marker before finishing underneath the Estoril goalkeeper to make it 3-0.

It was a tenth consecutive game without defeat (9 wins, 1 draw), and increased Sporting CP's number of consecutive wins at Alvalade under Rui Borges to 14. The team now host FC Porto on Tuesday (8:45 pm) in the first leg of the Taça de Portugal semi-finals.
 
Sporting CP: Rui Silva [GK], Iván Fresneda (Georgios Vagiannidis, 83'), Ousmane Diomande, Gonçalo Inácio, Maxi Araújo, Morten Hjulmand [C], Hidemasa Morita (João Simões, 72'), Geny Catamo (Daniel Bragança, 83'), Francisco Trincão (Nuno Santos, 83'), Luís Guilherme (Souleymane Faye, 72'), Luis Suárez.