Sporting CP reclaim Liga NOS top spot with solo strike from Slimani
Sporting CP moved back onto the top of the Liga NOS pile this Saturday night with a battling win against Moreirense, courtesy of a 16th minute strike from Islam Slimani.
With the Liga NOS top spot up for grabs, Sporting showed their intentions early on to go on the attack and Jorge Jesus' side could have taken the lead from the very first play, when Slimani forced a corner that ended up harmlessly wide of Stefanovic's goal. Moreirense responded down the other end with a chance of their own, with a corner from Fábio Espinho headed just wide of the mark by André Micael. Not to be outdone, Sporting charged back and a break away from João Mário down the right ended up with the ball at Bryan Ruiz's feet, but the Costa Rican was unable to get his shot away. The next opportunity came when Adrien was brought down at the edge of the area for a free-kick and Bryan Ruiz stepped up for the resulting set piece, only to be denied by a decent save by Stefanovic.
Sporting continued to press and it paid off in the 16th minute, when Teo Gutiérrez found Schelloto with a delicate pass that the Italian-Argentinean diverted on to Slimani. With the goal at his mercy, the Algerian did what he does best and gave Sporting a deserved lead. The goal did little to slow up the team from Alvalade, while Moreirense could do little but resort to dead ball situations in reply. on 35 minutes, Nildo called Rui Patrício into a rare bit of action, with the Sporting keeper instinctively parrying away for a corner from the Brazilian's free-kick. Three minutes later, Teo Gutiérrez could have doubled his side's lead, but the Colombian came up just inches short of a cross from João Mário.
Looking to add a bit of comfort to their lead, Jesus' side continued to turn the screw and give minutes before the break João Mário tried to curl in a guided shot, but his effort finished the wrong side of the crossbar after a breakaway spearheaded by William Carvalho. Teo Gutiérrez actually had the ball in the back of the Moreirense net just before the break, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
The second-half got underway with the masses of traveling fans pushing Sporting for a second and the players responded with a wave of forays forward. Around the hour mark, Teo Gutiérrez had the goal at his mercy, but he was unable to keep his header on target. To their credit, Moreirense had attacking intentions of their own and did manage to force the odd slip up out of Sporting. However, a second goal for the visitors always looked more likely than an equaliser for the hosts and next it was William Carvalho to threaten, but he was unable to find the back of the net with his header following a Bruno César corner.
To add a bit of late drama, Bruno Paixão actually sent off Jorge Jesus after Rafael Martins put a hard tackle in on Schelloto, right in front of the Sporting bench. Jesus appealed for the referee to discipline the foul, but Bruno Paixão saw fit to instead send off the Sporting boss.
Trailing by just a single goal, the hosts rallied late on with some moves down the flanks, but Sporting stood firm. On 86 minutes Adrien dribbled his way through the middle, but once again the ball ended up off target. Sporting might not have scored a second, but Moreirense were even further away from an equaliser and as the final sounded the three points headed for Alvalade.
