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.
