Match report: Feirense 0-2 Sporting

Feirense 0-2 Sporting CP

Liga Zon Sagres

Last night Sporting notched up their tenth consecutive win and their sixth in the league. After a shaky start to the season Os Leões are on quite a run, however they faced a stiff test in Aveiro at the hands of Feirense and the win wasn’t achieved as comfortable as the Lisbon club might have liked.

Indeed it was the home side who had the first real opportunity of the game. Varela just needed to get a touch on the corner at the far post and he could have been celebrating Feirense’s first goal in over 270 minutes of football.

However, Sporting soon started to liven up and a if Van Wolfswinkel had only been able to control a long ball from Onyewu then he could have been through on goal.

Shortly after Elias managed to get a shot away for Sporting but he blazed over after a wonderful first touch lifted the ball over the defender’s head.

At the other end Varela tried his luck from a long way out but his shot as tame and wasteful, perhaps summing up the lack of invention in the Feirense side.

Sporting created a better chance a couple of minutes later on the break but the sliding Van Wolfswinkel couldn’t quite reach Diego Capel’s centre.

With over half an hour gone neither goalkeeper had been really tested. In the 36^th minute it was Feirense’s turn to attack on the counter but once more the shot was tame, this time from Fonseca, and cause Rui Patricio no problems.

Three minutes later Van Wolfswinkel disappointingly headed a Schaars free kick wide and in the 42^nd minute came on of the talking points of the first half.

Elias went down in the box claiming a penalty but the ref, rightly, was having none of it; the Brazilian went down far too easily.

Finally in the last minute of the first half a good save was produced from a goalkeeper. A good pass from Matías Fernández afforded a chance to Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and the Dutchman’s powerful effort was turned round the post by Paulo Lopes.

After early chances for Feirense after the break Sporting searched for the breakthrough and manager Domingos Paciência introduced wingers André Carillo, first, and then Jeffrén at the expense of Elias and Capel respectively. Both looked keen to impress but ultimately Sporting needed a fortunate penalty to open the scoring.

With little more than an hour played Stijn Schaars took a dive in the box and, to the dismay of the Feirense defenders, the referee, this time, pointed to the spot. While there was doubt about the award of the penalty there was none in Van Wolfsinkel’s finish, the centre forward crashed the ball into the top right corner for his sixth league goal of the campaign – putting him joint top of the leading goalscorers list along with Óscar Cardozo of Benfica and Marítimo’s Baba Diawara.

Long range efforts from Insúa and Carrillo tested the capabilities of Paulo Lopes as Sporting looked to kill the game but Feirense’s keeper responded with two good saves, particularly from Carrillo’s shot which he tipped onto the angle before it went behind.

It was the man who contentiously won the penalty who settled the game in Sporting’s favour in the 77^th minute. The ball fell to Schaars on the edge of the area and the Dutch midfielder’s low volley found the bottom right corner leaving Paulo Lopes helpless. It was a fantastic strike from Sport TV’s man of the match – although, whether or not someone who dived to win a penalty should really win that award is debatable.

With the game effectively over in their favour there was one disappointment in the closing stages for Sporting. Jeffrén, on his return from injury, hobbled off in the 84^th minute forcing his side to see out the remainder of the game with 10 men.