Sporting took another giant step towards winning the national championship title this Saturday, when they received and dispatched Portimonense (3-0) in a match on the 32nd round of the I League. The Lions may, in fact, celebrate winning the championship tomorrow, if Benfica does not win when they travel to Vila Nova de Famalicão.

On an afternoon of homage to Manuel Fernandes, Rúben Amorim once again changed the starting eleven and ended up seeing the team respond well, with the result being short of what happened over the 90 minutes in Alvalade, which registered a record attendance for this season.

Paulinho, at minute 13, Trincão, at minute 70, and Gyokeres, in stoppage time, were the goal scorers for Sporting, who are increasingly close to winning the title again after the 2020/21 season.

Portimonense, in turn, complicates their life in the I League, remaining in the third-to-last place in the standings and confirming the permanence... of Rio Ave.

Match summary

Sporting entered the field with the desire to quickly resolve the match against the Algarve team and it did not take long to cause chills in the opposing defense. After a couple of warnings, Paulinho broke the tie at minute 13, after a low cross from Nuno Santos to the heart of the penalty area.

Rúben Amorim's team became more relaxed due to the early advantage, but even so they did not stop pressing the gas pedal, creating countless situations to increase the score in Alvalade. However, on the other side was Nakamura, the Japanese goalkeeper, who collected saves of a high degree of difficulty, with the crossbar also preventing Paulinho from scoring twice, and who prevented the result from becoming even more lopsided until the end of the first 45 minutes.

Still in the first half, there was a moment worthy of note: the homage to Manuel Fernandes, a historic figure of the club who is fighting against a serious illness. At nine minutes, the fans present in Alvalade stood up to 'forget' what was happening on the field, and applauded the former captain for 60 minutes.

In the second half, Sporting went in search of another goal, which would bring more peace of mind, also to the stands, but Portimonense lowered their lines even more and kept postponing a possible second goal.

Rúben Amorim wanted more and called on Daniel Bragança and Geny Catamo - Esgaio and Pedro Gonçalves left - to try to turn things around and look for the second goal of the night. And it did not take long to see the team respond. Paulinho appeared on the left wing and went to the end line to cross back, where Trincão appeared (70'), who shot into the back of the goal and left Alvalade on the brink of total delirium.

The second goal ended up putting an end to the match's story, although Sporting even had a couple of opportunities to extend the lead. Nakamura continued to be valuable for the Portimão team, making some very impressive saves.

However, the result was not yet sealed with the inevitable Viktor Gyokeres (90'+2) fighting until the end for his goal, managing to beat the opposing goalkeeper in stoppage time and setting the final score.

41st goal for Gyokeres this season, 27th in the championship

Gyokeres scores for the 3rd consecutive game: he had scored twice in the last 2 matches, against Vitória SC and FC Porto pic.twitter.com/iaSnS9HwOK

— Playmaker (@playmaker_PT) May 4, 2024

With this result, Sporting accumulates the 27th victory in this edition of the championship and reaches the 84-point mark, now waiting for Famalicão to prevent Benfica from winning tomorrow, Sunday, to celebrate the championship title... on the couch.

Moment of the match: In this type of match, we already know that the simplest recipe is to score early. That's what Sporting did. From then on, everything became easier for the Lions.

Starting teams

SPORTING STARTING ELEVEN: Franco Israel, Diomande, Coates, Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Esgaio, Hjulmand, Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos; Trincão, Paulinho and Gyökeres.

PORTIMONENSE STARTING ELEVEN: Nakamura, Igor Formiga, Alemão, Pedrão, Luan, Lucas Ventura, Taichi Fukui, Carlinhos, Seck, Hildeberto, Hélio Varela.

Preview

Sporting hosts Portimonense this Saturday in a match on the 32nd round of the I League, and can take another giant step towards winning the national championship title. In the event of a victory against the Algarve team, whic>