‘Leões’ perdem com Sp. Covilhã por 3-1 na 27.ª jornada da II Liga

Sporting B were unable to break their string of recent negative results this weekend, this time coming away from the II Liga matchday 27 hosting of Sp. Covilhã with a 3-1 loss.

The return of Sporting Academy prodigy Betinho to the Sporting B lineup was the highlight of the squad list and it was the forward who created the first chance of the afternoon after just 20 seconds, with a shot from the centre of the area that ended up in Pedro Taborda's hands. The game developed into a captivating encounter, with both sides looking for goal, but it was the visitors who struck first, when Éder Diaz rose highest to a corner in the fifth minute.

Sp. Covilhã followed up on the goal with a dominating display in the midfield for the rest of the half, largely limiting Sporting's efforts going forward and doubling their lead in the 15th minute with another header from a corner. To add insult to injury, Sp. Covilhã stretched their lead further five minutes later, when Tiago Moreira found space at the edge of the area to leave João de Deus' side trailing by three.

From there the encounter settled and possession was largely divided, but Sporting B were struggling to string together passes against well compacted opposition who were doing a fine job of closing out the middle of the park. Zezinho was introduced in place of Fokobo and 10 minutes before the break Sporting B looked to have finally shaken off the early shellshock, with Dramé reducing the deficit to 3-1 with a free-kick guided in at the near post.

The interval worked well to lift the spirits of João de Deus' side and better possession, use of space and pace going forward began to produce opportunities. Dramé was looking particularly likely to do damage, but Sp. Covilhã managed to hold on to the result and take away a three points decided in the first quarter of an hour.

The result leaves Sporting B in 10th place in II Liga, with 36 points.