Sales to begin for the trip to Bessa

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 11, between Boavista Futebol Clube and Sporting Clube de Portugal, will go on sale at Estádio José Alvalade as follows:

THURSDAY (10H TO 20H) | Club Members only

FRIDAY (10H TO 15H) | General public

The first day of sales is exclusively for Club Members and a Member Card of Gamebox must be shown. Each card is valid for one ticket and must have October 2016 fees paid. Each person may present a maximum of 4 cards.

Kick-off is scheduled for 18h15 on Saturday the 26th of November, in Estádio do Bessa. Tickets are for the North Goal End and are priced at 12€ each.

Agreement with Boavista for the loan of Iuri Medeiros

Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Boavista Futebol Clube, Futebol, SAD for the loan of Iuri Medeiros until the end of the current sports season, with no option for a permanent transfer.

Sporting SAD wishes Iuri Medeiros the best of personal and professional success.

Jorge Jesus' reaction to his side's 2-0 win against Benfica

“I want to start by thanking the fans. Almost 40 thousand people on a Monday night is really good. They were really important for the team", began Jorge Jesus in a flash interview at the final whistle this Monday, after his side's 2-0 win against Boavista.

In his usually analytical form, the Sporting boss reflected: “It was a tough game against a really intense Boavista team that doesn't let you play. We scored two goals in the first-half and from then on we managed the game well. Our objective was to win and it was important to keep a clean sheet. Once again we showed quality."

Jesus went on to speak about the absence of João Pereira, Coates and Jefferson from the starting line-up, as well as the introduction of Carlos Mané for Teo Gutiérrez: "It was my choice. Coates has played a lot in the last three games and he wasn't used to it. He is a big lad and it takes him some time to recover between matches. We will see if he is ready for Thursday or not."

Moving his attention to a question on Thursday's trip to Germany, Jesus added: "Of course there will be a first time for Sporting winning in Germany, but today is Monday and we have until Wednesday before we travel to see how things work out. A lot of people are talking about it, but a lot of things would have to happen for us to reach the Europa League final. Being ahead of Benfica and FC Porto, now that is something worth talking about."

To finish, the Alvalade boss touched on the possible suspension of Slimani, with the Lisbon derby just around the corner: "I don't know what is going to happen and we will have to wait and see. If it happens, then it will be like we thought it would, but right now we can't be sure. To be honest, what could we do but laugh about it?"

Bryan Ruiz on Monday night's Liga NOS win

Bryan Ruiz was once again one of the stand-out performers this Monday night, setting up Ewerton for Sporting's first and netting a goal of his own with a kind deflection from a free-kick.

“It was an important win and it is three more points in the fight for the league", said the Costa Rican in a flash interview at the final whistle, going on to add: "What happens depends on us, so all we have to do is think about what we have to do. If we do that, we will be champions."

To finish, the skillful attacker looked ahead to Thursday's visit to Leverkusen: "We know it will be hard, but we have the capacity to win. It won't be easy, but we will try. Sporting has never won in Germany, but there is a first time for everything."

Sporting reopen gap at the top of Liga NOS with two set piece goals in nine minutes

The 37,000 fans who turned out for Sporting's dominating performance against Boavista may have had to wait until late evening for kick off, but the morning training session was evidentially where the win began, with Sporting overcoming a stubborn visiting defence courtesy of two deadball situations in the space of just nine minutes.

The evening's encounter got underway with Erwin Sánchez's side holding true to their pre-match declaration to take the fight to the league leaders, with Boavista applying pressure high up the pitch in an attempt to disrupt Sporting's passing game. In fact, the visitors often forced the team from Alvalade to take the direct root forward in search of Slimani and Teo. However, despite the visitors best intentions the high pace did little more than see the foul count mount up and hand the initiative to Sporting. On 15 minutes, Rui Patrício spread the ball out wide and Marvin galloped down the left to link up with Bryan Ruiz. The Costa Rican put a measured cross into the box and Teo Gutiérrez met with a side-footed volley, but the effort scuffed wide of the post.

Boavista's good intentions actually played right into Sporting's hands on several occasions, opening up space behind the visitors' defensive line that Bryan Ruiz in particular was enjoying. On 33 minutes, Ruiz saw a shot across the face of the box deflect wide, before João Mário blasted a shot off target from range. A deserved Sporting opener finally game in the 37th minute, when Ewerton popped up at the near post to head in following a corner.

Nine minutes later, Lady Luck then looked kindly on Sporting's work ethic, as a free-kick from Bryan Ruiz took a wicked deflection off the wall and onto the inside of the post, before ending up in the back of Mika's net seconds before the half-time whistle. As the referee signaled for the break, the scoreboard was largely a fair reflection of proceedings so far, with Sporting having attempted twice as many shots on goal and having held down the bulk of possession.

The second-half got underway on a negative note, with Idris crashing into Slimani's ankle with a tackle punished with a yellow card. Boavista's adrenaline did almost claw back a goal in the 53rd minute, when Anderson Carvalho showed a nice bit of skill to turn a cross onto the woodwork. A few of minutes later (59’), Iriberri pulled a rare stop out of Patrício after another ball whipped into the box.

The visitors had fired a warning shot and Jesus responded with a tactical change, introducing Carlos Mané for Teo Gutiérrez for an injection of pace between midfield and attack. The Sporting Academy graduate was soon causing trouble for the Boavista defence, picking out Slimani with a splitting pass that the Algerian almost converted on. A minute later, Mané himself tried his luck with a stinger of a shot, before João Mário was denied by an excellent save from Mika (76’).

Boavista really dropped off in the final stages, but Schelotto gifted possession to the visitors in the 78th minute in what could have took the game to a nail-biting finish, but Patrício was on hand to deny Anderson Carvalho. Jorge Jesus then introduced Aquilani in the 80th minute in place of Gelson Martins, with a move that almost worked to perfection. Ruiz picked out Slimani in the area and the resulting shot ended up at the feet of Carlos Mané, but the young forward could only hit the post.

Jorge Jesus includes 20 for Boavista

Jorge Jesus has included a total of 20 players in his squad for Monday's hosting of Boavista, on Liga NOS matchday 23.

Goalkeepers: Rui Patrício and Azbe Jug

Defenders: Marvin, Jefferson, Ewerton, Coates, Semedo, Tobias, João Pereira, Schelotto and Esgaio

Midfielders: Aquilani, João Mário and Adrien

Forwards: Slimani, Teo, Bryan Ruiz, Mané, Gelson Martins and Matheus Pereira

Sporting CP-Boavista will get underway at 20h00 tonight, on Estádio José Alvalade.

Jorge Jesus shares his thoughts Liga NOS matchday 23 hosting of Boavista

Jorge Jesus was in the Alvalade press room this Sunday, ahead of what he expects to be a tough hosting of Boavista.

“Boavista are having a good second half to the season. They have won three, drawn two and haven't lost yet. It will be hard, just like it was in Bessa, where we lost two points through some mistakes that I really don't expect to see. We will be taking on a team who are on a high right now, but of course we want to win and to play well. The most important thing is that we win the three points and defend first place, opened the Sporting boss.

Explaining that Coates will feature and that there is no rush to bring Barcos into action, Jesus affirmed that he will put out his strongest possible side: "Today I watches the Bayer Leverkusen game and the lads suffered a bit because they were in such a hard game before it, but we will look at this match the same way we always do. I will use my best options for tomorrow, within the strategy that has brought us to where we are now."

Sporting CP-Boavista will kick off at 20h00 on Monday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

President Bruno de Carvalho with the press on Saturday night

The Sporting president spoke with the press on Saturday night, leaving a message for the fans and reflecting on the weekend’s chance to move clear at the top of I Liga:

“Firstly, I want to thank the thousands of Sporting fans who came here. We felt like we were playing at home and we should be proud of that. It is a really important that it continues to happen.

Secondly, it is important for us to reflect on how we think the fans are feeling. We are disappointed with the result, but we have to understand that the season is a marathon and not a 100m sprint. We will fight for the title to the end and we believe in the work we are doing. We need the support of our 12^th man and I am sure you will all be there with us.

There are also a few things I would like to share with you. I haven’t reached three years with the club yet, but this game has taught me things that the fans should know, because football looks like it is constantly changing.

Firstly, I was sent off at the end of the game. In the preparatory meeting, which I always go to, the refereeing team, namely the main referee, said that he didn’t want to stand out too much going on and off the pitch. At the game, I walked up to him and told him that for someone who didn’t want to stand out, he had in fact stood out too much. I was sent off. I learnt then that you can say whatever you want in the preparatory meeting, because it isn’t taken seriously and you can always do the opposite.

Secondly, I learnt that humility is not a characteristic to associate with referees. Some people think you need an ego the size of the world to be a referee, instead of being humble. I learnt that touching somebody’s back can rule out a goal, but pulling several players back in the area isn’t a penalty. It is an important change in the rules of the game and it isn’t worth getting upset about, because it is a rule now. I also learnt that brutal tackles and tackles from behind will not be disciplined. That is another new rule in the game. A player stops the ball with his hand then gets upset because he wasn’t given a free-kick, then runs after the player who supposedly fouled him and kicks him isn’t sent off. I also learnt that it is worth wasting time, because it isn’t the referee’s job to stop that happening, but rather to passively look at everything. A player can also be exactly where he should be for a substitution, knowing that he is coming off, but then go to the 18-yard box and then come back to be substituted. That isn’t punished and it is normal.”

Asked about the absence of Carrillo, Bruno de Carvalho responded: “We would only miss Carrillo if he had taken a refereeing course. What we are talking about here is the new rules of football.”

Relative to the naming of Artur Soares Dias to take charge of the weekend’s encounter, the Alvalade president added: “I don’t think it was strange and I have to say that I have a lot of consideration for Artur Soares Dias. I learnt a lot and I am upset, but I have to start changing how I think about the game, or I will always be upset. The rules changed and nobody told us, but maybe we can use the General Assembly tomorrow to explain the rules to the fans so they don’t criticise the referees.”

Confronted with a possible suspension, Carvalho responded: “If I am suspended, maybe I will go on holiday, because I have learnt a lot of new rules and I need a rest.“

Jorge Jesus on his side's draw with Boavista

Speaking at the final whistle on Saturday, Jorge Jesus considered that his side did enough to claim the three points.

“We lost the chance to clear into first. We knew we could go clear, but we had to beat Boavista in a difficult game. Offensively, we created three chances which could have given us the win, but we were not effective. Defensively we played well, but we wanted to come away from here with a different result and we did what we could to deserve that”, affirmed the Sporting coach.

Speaking in greater depth about the game, Jesus analysed: “From my point of view there were two situations which should be looked at: the penalty against Paulo Vinícius for handball stopping Slimani from scoring and Slimani’s goal that was ruled out. I didn’t like the refereeing. Boavista kept fouling us to stop the game and they didn’t get many yellow cards, even when it would have been justified. They fought hard, but other than dead ball situations they didn’t get near our goal. They did well in defence and we didn’t know what to do. Having the mentality to win the league and winning every now and then are two different things and we are trying to teach the lads that.”

To finish, Jorge Jesus spoke about the return of William Carvalho: “William has been out for two months and he needs to play to get back up to speed. He could have played regardless of the result. He will play more on Thursday and, bit by bit, we will try and use the quality he has, which is really important for the team.”

Sporting held to goalless draw by Boavista

Sporting missed out on the chance to go clear at the top of I Liga this weekend, after being held to a goalless draw in Estádio do Bessa.

The team from Alvalade had Boavista pinned back in defence almost immediately from the off, with some steady build-up down the flanks holding down long spells of possession but creating very few clear chances on goal. In fact, it was actually the hosts who created the first notable opportunity, when Zé Manuel headed wide following a free-kick.

Sporting continued to dominate possession and were having a relatively easy time in arriving to the edge of the Boavista 18-yard box, but the final penetrating pass was proving hard to come by. On 29 minutes, Slimani did put the ball in the back of the net, but referee Artur Soares Dias ruled out the Algerian’s effort for an alleged foul. Another chance quickly followed when Montero linked up with a cross from João Mário, but Nuno Henrique threw himself in front of the effort to keep the scoreboard blank. Slimani again came close just before the break with a header, but Mika did well to stretch out a hand and keep the scores tied at the break.

The second-half was much of the same, with Sporting holding on to the ball and showing patience in the build-up, but coming up against a Boavista defensive wall in the final third. With Teo Gutiérrez on the pitch in place of Montero, Sporting created a superb chance when Slimani floated a pass to the far post which Gelson Martins put back across goal, but the Colombian forward blazed his shot wide of the mark.

William Carvalho made a long awaited return from injury in the 69th minute, coming on in place of João Mário in midfield. A minute later, Carlos Mané found a rare inch of space, but the Portuguese international was unable to find the target. Slimani followed a couple of minutes later after controlling well, but the Boavista keeper did well to rush out and deny the Algerian from a tight angle. Adrien saw a free-kick deflect off the wall and harmlessly away in the 90^th minute, before João Pereira had the last roll of the dice of the evening with shot that ended up going out for a throw in.

Despite the dropped points, Sporting remains at the top of I Liga, level on 14 points with FC Porto.