Sporting win but finish second in League Cup Group C
Sporting claimed the win in Arouca this Tuesday night, but were left to settle for 2nd place in League Cup Group C after Portimonense 3-2 in in Paços de Ferreira. Marvin was on target for the team from Alvalade, with 10 minutes left on the clock.
As promised in his pre-match press conference, Jorge Jesus rang the changes for the encounter and also handed a debut to Azbe Jug in the Sporting goal.
With less playing time together, Arouca were able to establish a foothold early on and Walter was able to get a shot off after beating Paulo Oliveira at the sprint, but the final product ended up wide of the post. Another chance quickly followed for the hosts, this time with Gegé heading over the target following a corner. Some insecurity in the passing game also saw Arouca claw back possession and break forward on occasions and Sporting's first clean chance on goal was made to wait until the quarter of an hour mark, when Paulo Oliveira turned a Nildo free-kick wide.
The anticipated reaction from Jorge Jesus' side really clicked into gear in the 19th minute, when a deep cross from Tanaka picked out André Martins at the far post, but the stand-in captain was unable to find the back of the net. The attack was the signal for a spell of pressing football from the visitors and brilliant bit of play saw Matheus Pereira spray a pass long to Tanaka, who controlled well and set up Montero, but the Colombian was off target. With 30 minutes on the clock the deadlock persisted, while Paços de Ferreira took the lead in Mata Real to begin to tip goal difference in Sporting's favour.
With Arouca mathematically unable to secure a place in the next round of the League Cup and Sporting looking uninspired, 0-0 persisted at the break, while Paços de Ferreira were leading Portimonense 2-1.
Jorge Jesus brough Gelson Martins and Carlos Mané into the action at the start of the second-half for André Martins and Matheus Pereira and it seemed to inject new urgency into the Sporting attack. Chances soon began to follow, first from Montero with a stinging effort that ended up wide, before Carlos Mané followed suit. The pressure on the Arouca goal began to build and on 58 minutes Aquilani had what was arguably Sporting's best chance of the night, but the Italian was also off target.
Sporting had done more than enough to take the lead, but while opportunities were in good supply, clinical finishing was lacking. Paulo Oliveira skimmed the paint off the outside of the post with a header in the 65th minute and on five minutes later the Alvalade defender again game close. Aquilani followed with a free-kick over the bar and Mané saw a shot deflected wide with a last ditch challenge, before Marvin finally opened the scoring ten minutes from time with a rebound after Rui Sacramento had denied Monteero.
Despite the win, Sporting's League Cup campaign comes to an end this season, with Portimonense topping the group with three wins out of three.
