Sporting with uphill task to qualify for League Cup semis

Sporting slipped to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Portimonense this Tuesday night, in League Cup Group C. Ewerton was the hero on the night for the hosts, scoring both sides of half-time in a game that also saw Marvin make his debut.

Portimonense made an aggressive start to the encounter and were soon threatening goal, with Lumor's 2nd minute shot deflected just wide of the post. Sporting responded second later, with Montero picking out Aquilani, but the Italian's chipped effort floated just over Carlos Henriques' goal.

With the Colombian double team of Montero and Teo particularly active up front, chances started to flow and on 19 minutes Carlos Mané found Teo in the area, but the Portimonense keeper managed to pull off a stop and deny Sporting the opener. Next it was Carlos Mané himself who broke through on goal, but the youngster hesitated a second too long and gave the hosts' defence the chance to scramble away. The team from Alvalade looked in control, but some loose passing in the midfield saw Portimonense snatch possession against the run of play and open the scoring courtesy of Ewerton in the 36th minute. There was still time for Sporting to try for an equaliser before the break, but Bruno César's powerful effort finished up the wrong side of the bar.

The second-half saw Jorge Jesus introduce Matheus Pereira in place of Carlos Mané and the Brazilian immediately caused chaos in the final third, picking out Teo who almost managed to make the most of confusion between Carlos Henriques and Possignolo. Aquiliani came close on two occasions as the clock ticked over and Montero actually had the ball in the back of the net, but his effort was ruled out for offside after what was apparently a deflection from Aquilani.

Despite Sporting's dominance in the final third, Portimonense picked up possession and broke forward, but Marcelo Boeck was able to make a stop from Fabrício. In response, Schelotto made another run down the left and whipped a cross into the box, but Matheus Pereira's finish was off target. On 80 minutes another cross from Schelotto was cut out by Lumor with a handball in the area, but William Carvalho was unable to convert on the spot kick. Portimonense however had better luck from 12 yards, scoring their second after Marcelo Boeck brought down Fabrício in the area.

Jorge Jesus' pre-match press conference on League Cup visit to Portimonense

Speaking in an exclusive press conference with Sporting TV, Jorge Jesus set out his plans for tomorrow's League Cup Group C visit to Portimonense. For the Alvalade boss, Portimonense's matchday 1 upset of Arouca (4-1) is a sure sign of the dangers posed by Tuesday's hosts.

“The game is important for this competition. Portimonense won their first match and if we are the same on points then goals will matter. Portimonense will try and make this game decisive in qualification for the next round. Our objective is to win tomorrow and everything will be in our control if we do. It will be a hard game and we will have to show the maturity to deal with some of the harder moments in the game. We will be facing a team from II Liga, who are fighting for promotion", affirmed Jorge Jesus, continuing: “All clubs who are taking part in this competition what to get as far possible. League Cup finals are important financially and they are games played with a lot of quality and passion. It is a competition that is not only important in terms of competition in the squad, but also because it brings games to regions in Portugal that don't have that many. They love football in the Algarve and it will be a great match. Our Supporters' Clubs in the Algarve will have a chance to meet the team too."

Confronted with a question on his usual tactic of squad rotation in the League Cup, the Sporting coach highlighted the progress being made across the squad to due the extra playing time: “The match against Tondela has nothing to do with tomorrow. We will go to Portimão with the players who are best fitted to get the win. A lot of those who played against Tondela will go to, with the exception of Adrien and Gelson Martins, who picked up a few knocks. Marvin will make his debut. He has adapted well. You can see he is still getting to know the squad, which is normal, but we have to give him the chance to show what he can do. Almost the entire squad plays in the team now, okay some more than others, but we don't have a fixed pattern. We have a very flexible team and by choices are always related to the quality I have in the squad."

Marvin's favoured position and Teo's fitness were also touched upon by the Alvalade chief: "Marvin was picked as a left-back. We let Jonathan go, because we really believe in him. He is only 21 years old and he needed to play, so we looked for a solution in Portugal. Marvin is here for that same position and that is what we have been working on. Clinically Teo is looking positive. We have a really good medical department and the doctors will try and get the players ready for us. He will probably be in the squad tomorrow."

To finish, Jesus spoke about the current situation at the heart of the Alvalade defence: "With Tobias being out we only have three centre-backs. We are in a risky position and we can't pick up any injuries or suspensions. We are trying to get Rúben Semedo back, but I don't know if it will be possible in contractual terms. If not, we will have to use the January market or the B team."

Jorge Jesus on his side's League Cup win against Paços de Ferreira

"Our objective was to win our first game in the League Cup, keeping in mind that we are just back from the holiday season", said Jorge Jesus in the final whistle on Tuesday.

"Yesterday I had a few doubts about what team I would put out. We have been working really hard in training, but the lads have responded well. We took on a hard team that we didn't beat in the league, but we won 3-1 and we could have scored more", continued the Sporting coach, adding: "Some of the players did really well and João Mário was good too."

Jorge Jesus also spoke about how the treatment room is looking ahead of the hosting of FC Porto on Saturday: "We will see about William. He picked up an injury in training and I am not sure he will recover in time. Teo is out too. A game against FC Porto is always really big regardless of how the league table looks. This is the first time Sporting will play without being in first, but of course we want to win."

João Mário on his side's 3-1 win against Paços de Ferreira

João Mário came off the bench to put in a solid second-half in his side's 3-1 League Cup win this Tuesday.

“We started well and we scored, but we let in a goal before the break. In the second-half we took the lead again and we could have won by more, but we were a bit sloppy in front of goal. It was a good win in a competition that we want to do well in", said the Portuguese international at the final whistle.

Sporting in the driving seat in the League Cup

Jorge Jesus had already made it clear in his pre-match press conference that his side would be looking for an extended run in the League Cup, while keeping in mind the January 2nd league encounter with FC Porto. As expected, the Sporting boss rang the changes to his side and it was the inclusion of Gelson Martins and Matheus Pereira that proved the difference on the night, in an impressive 3-1 win over Paços de Ferreira.

Although Paços fought hard to smoother out Sporting's attacks early on, there was little the visitors could do out wide. Montero picked up possession and fed back to Jefferson and the Brazilian obliged with a cross that Gelson guided towards Aquiliani for the Italian to open the scoring from the edge of the box after 8 minutes. Next try his luck from range was Arien, but the Alvalade skipper's effort was kept out by Defendi. Barnes made the most of a loose ball to send a shot toward's Marcelo's goal, but it was all one-way traffic as the half progressed. Matheus picked out André Matrins in the 37th minute, but the midfielder's effort when isolated in front of goal lacked pace and was stopped by Defendi.

Sporting looked certain to take a lead in at the break, but a seemingly harmless free-kick saw Marcelo tricked by a shot by Christian to level the score at half-time in what was miles away from being a true reflection of the action so far.

The break worked wonders for Jesus' side, who immediately created two chances for Montero (shot over the bar, 46’) and André Martins (header defended by Defendi, 48’). However, the third attempt proved the trick, when Matheus found Jefferson charging forward. The Brazilian's initial cross took a deflection, but Gelson was on hand to collect and put Sporting back into a deserved lead. Christian tried to get Paços back into it with a shot from range, but Sporting were looking far to long and another goal was inevitable.

Paulo Oliveira popped up in the area and put a header just wide eight minutes after the hour mark, before Bryan Ruiz finished off the result after being picked out by another deadly pass from Mathes. Slimani hit the post twice in the dying stages (82’ and 90+2’), but it made little difference to a convincing victory that sees Sporting close 2016 on a high.

Jorge Jesus ahead of League Cup encounter with Paços de Ferreira

Jorge Jesus spoke with Sporting TV ahead of the League Cup encounter with Paços de Ferreira, setting out his stall for what he sees as another opportunity to bring silverware to Alvalade.

“I am expecting a hard game against an opponent that has proven difficult in the league. We are coming into this game after the holiday season and neither team will be at their best, but we will use the game to give some of the lads a run out and to contribute to the competitiveness of the squad. Some players who have played a lot in the league could be picked, but we have an important game coming up do we will be mixing up ideas a bit. Both Matheus and Gelson have been important for balancing out the squad. We will go into the League Cup with the objective of winning it. My objective is to overcome the idea that Sporting doesn't win this kind of competition, which is what I was brought in for."

“Paços de Ferreira is one of those teams that isn't playing for the top places, but that has the quality to fight for a place in the Europa League. They have had a good start to the season and they will cause problems for us. They are one of those sides who put everything into the cup competitions and their coach will use his best team", added the Sporting coach, continuing: “The squad have come back in good form after the break and we have been pushing hard in training these last two days. We haven't got any medical problems except the ones we had with Teo, Tobias, Bruno Paulista and Mané, who was injured with the national team and hasn't recovered yet. William has a bit of a problem which isn't serious, but he won't be in the squad."

Jesus went on to reflect on seeing 8,000 fans turn out to see his squad train on the 26th of December, as well as on his time so far at the Sporting helm: "Only a lot of passion and faith brings that many fans out and the fact that so many were young people is promising for the future. The team has to fight to bring back the prestige of this club and that is what the president and board are working to do. It has been great here so far and I wasn't expecting us to be where we are right now. We were at the top of the league for a long time and I wasn't expecting that, because Benfica and FC Porto are really strong. It is all credit to the work we have been putting in, just like we did in the Europa League to come back from a bad start. The players deserve the credit, because they have shown that they believe they can win the league. We are on the right track, we have won back some of our pride and we are feeling what it is to be Sporting."

Sporting-Paços de Ferreira will kick-off at 20h00 on Tuesday, in Estádio José Alvalade.