Holders out of the Portuguese Cup

With 99 minutes on the clock, Slimani is on-side and latches onto a pass to make it 4-3 to Sporting, only to see his goal wrongly ruled out. This Wednesday night's Portuguese Cup trip to Braga will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, with the match's refereeing weighting heavily on the final result. Despite the debatable officiating, it was also a highly entertaining game of football, with both teams putting on a tactical master class packed full of goals. At the final whistle, Braga edged it and revenged last year's final with what was amazingly only Sporting's first domestic defeat this season.

The opening exchanges were the starting gun for the encounter that could develop in the Braga Municipal Stadium, with both sides pushing the intensity and pace going forward. After just two minutes João Mário forced a save out of Matheus, before his brother Wilson Eduardo responded down the other end with a shot that ended up wide of the mark. Sporting were first to tally on the scoreboard, when Bryan Ruiz made the most of a hashed clearance in the 10th minute to make it 1-0.

The placement of Aquilani next to William and Adrien in the middle of the park added an extra spark to Sporting's possession recovery and passing and it was the Italian himself who could have doubled his side's lead, but Matheus stood firm. A minute after the half-hour mark, it was Baiano who was unable to convert on a good chance. The encounter looked to be heading for the break after a calm first-half, but Rafa's apparent foul on William was waved away and Wilson Eduardo was free to race and beat the isolated Rui Patrício three minutes before the whistle.

The second-half started with another blistering effort by Ruiz, but this time Matheus was able to stop the Costa Rican. In response, Alan managed to convert on a cross from Marcelo Goiano down the left to make it 2-1 in favour of Braga. Sporting needed just five minutes to rally back up the other end and Slimani equalised after connecting with an Aquiliani cross. Turning the result on its head for the third time in the match, William popped up at the edge of the area to fire a shot into the top corner and put Sporting back into the lead.

The game looked resolved, but seven minutes from time Marcelo Goiano drifted in from the left to beat Rui Patrício against the run of play. Tired legs kicked in as the game moved into extra-time that was essentially decided by a just a couple of forays forward.