Sporting held to draw by Rio Ave but hold on to Liga NOS top spot

Sporting were forced to split the points with Rio Ave on Monday night, in a goalless draw on Liga NOS matchday 21. Jorge Jesus' side dominated the possession stats and had twice as many shots on goal, but an inspired performance from the visiting keeper kept Sporting at bay.

The team from Alvalade took the game by the scruff of the neck early on, but struggled to punch holes in a well organised Rio Ave defence who looked happy to sit back, in contrast to the majority of their outings so far this season. Chances did start to appear after the opening 10 minutes, firstly with Bryan Ruiz being denied by Cássio (12’) and quickly after from a powerful shot by Slimani that was deflected away by Roderick (13’).

Although holding deep in defence, Rio Ave did have a fair few forays forward, courtesy mostly of Bressan acting as a target man on the break. On 24 minutes, Kayembe found space behind the Sporting backline, but Patrício was on hand to make the first big stop of the night. Sporting responded with a pair of chances down the other end (26’ and 27’), firstly from Adrien with a low drive that Cássio did well to smoother, followed by a header at the far post by Teo Gutiérrez that the Rio Ave keeper also responded too.

A lukewarm period followed, broken by a long pass from Coates which was brought under control by Zeegelaar. João Mário then weaved space in the area, but again Cássio (37’) replied with a save. The last chance of the half fell to Rio Ave, after Tarantini picked up possession in the 18-yard box, but Rui Patrício managed to complete an outstretched stop to turn the effort away for a corner.

The first clearcut chance after the break was also created by the visitors, when Kayembe popped up at the far post while Sporting battled through with 10 men after Paulo Oliveira was forced off by an injury (replaced Rúben Semedo), before Jorge Jesus' began to show a sense of urgency in attack and returned the natural order to the evening. Sebastián Coates actually had the ball in the back of the net following a free-kick, but his effort was ruled out.

Hernán Barcos was handed a debut 17 minutes from time in place of Teo Gutiérrez, followed by the introduction of Gelson Martins for William Carvalho in a final gamble for a goal. 'El Pirata' actually came just inches from a dream start to his Sporting career with a header at the near post, but Cássio continued his frustrating form to keep the scoreboard blank. Opportunities for Gelson (82’), Slimani (83’), Barcos (85’) and again Slimani (87’) followed, but the deadlock maintained to split the points at the final whistle.