A 0-2 victory keeps the team 4 points clear at the top

In a dominant display, Sporting Clube de Portugal beat Boavista FC 0-2 on Tuesday night on Matchday 15 of the Liga NOS season. Goals from Nuno Santos and Pedro Porro helped the team to three more points at the top of the table.

Luís Neto, Matheus Nunes, Nuno Santos and Andraž Šporar were brought into the first XI, in changes from the Taça da Liga final against SC Braga this past weekend. Sporting CP controlled things from the opening whistle, as Boavista FC held back and appeared more concerned with not conceding than with scoring.

Chances on goal were slow to appear, but the first provided a goal for Os Leões. Midway through the first half, Nuno Mendes crossed perfectly for Nuno Santos in the heart of the area, and he struck low into the net. At first ruled out for an alleged offside, the referee Fábio Veríssimo eventually gave the goal after consulting VAR. It was Nuno Santos' sixth goal in 2020/2021 - his fifth in Liga NOS.

From there, the chances continued. Almost immediately, Nuno Mendes came close to making it 0-2, but the first-time shot went just wide. Then, Zouhair Feddal headed off-target from a corner. On 33 minutes, Šporar also missed a chance, and before the break Jovane Cabral had his effort cleared away by Jackson Porozo.

Just before the halftime whistle, João Mário was unable to finish after rounding the goalkeeper, and the game remained 0-1.

There was no change in the frequency of the chances in the second half. On 53 minutes, a tremendous move initiated by Matheus Nunes was continued by João Mário, who served up a pass to Nuno Santos. A spectacular feint and delivery Šporar was only denied a goal by a deflection of the striker's shot.

After another opportunity - this time with João Mário shooting over - Rúben Amorim took off Jovane Cabral and brought in Daniel Bragança. He would later swap Šporar and Nuno Santos for Tiago Tomás and João Palhinha.

Sporting CP finally extended their advantage through one of the goals of the matchday, as Pedro Porro slammed in a shot from distance. The Spaniard continued a run of form that also saw him on-target in the Taça da Liga final.

The second goal brought more security to the visitors, who left Bessa with only one negative point: A yellow card for João Palhinha in the 79th minute that leaves the midfielder unavailable for the next game, against SL Benfica.

Before the end, Adán made a stop from a header by Rami, Palhinha shot over and late substitute Bruno Tabata tested Léo Jardim.

With this result, Sporting CP remain leaders of Liga NOS with a 4-point lead over nearest rivals FC Porto.