Sporting CP beat FC Penafiel 0-1 to advance in the Taça da Liga

Sporting Clube de Portugal guaranteed a place in the Final Four of the Taça da Liga by beating FC Penafiel 0-1 in the third round of Group B. Tiago Tomás scored the only goal of the game.

Rúben Amorim made several changes to the side that won against Boavista FC at the weekend, fielding João Virgínia, Gonçalo Esteves, Daniel Bragança, Bruno Tabata and Tiago Tomás. On the bench, the main news was the inclusion of Rodrigo Ribeiro, a 16-year-old striker from the youth team receiving his first callup.

Sporting CP only needed a draw to progress, but they wanted to ensure their way through early. After eight minutes, Sebastián Coates climbed higher than the opposition players in the area and headed against the post following a corner taken by Tabata.

Their opponents, who currently occupy fifth place in the Portuguese Second Division and were missing former Sporting CP player Bruno César, ended up conceding in the 16th minute. After a lapse in concentration by the home defence, which lost the ball in the penalty area, Tabata shot at the goalkeeper and Tiago Tomás, on the rebound, made it 0-1.

The attacking output dipped slightly thereafter, but it was still Sporting CP who came closest to scoring a second goal of the game. Tiago Tomás found himself through on goal, but keeper Nuno Macedo denied him with a strong save.

For the second half, Pedro Gonçalves was brought on to replace Pablo Sarabia, and he was the first to create problems for the opposition with a low shot. Shortly afterwards, it was Tiago Tomás' turn to test the goalkeeper's reflexes.

FC Penafiel gained confidence as the contest progressed and, while failing to create clear chances, they attempted several transitions whenever they found space -often through long passes. On 73 minutes, Sporting CP's Bruno Tabata received a second yellow card and was sent off, which further increased their hopes.

The final stretch of the match saw Sporting CP defending deep, not allowing more than a pair of long distance strikes to trouble them and holding on for a 0-1 win.

With this result, Sporting CP are one of the four teams that will be present in the Final Four of the competition, which will be played between January 25th and 29th January at Estádio Municipal de Leiria.

Os Leões thus remain undefeated in domestic competitions and return to action on Saturday, 18th December, with an away fixture against Gil Vicente FC in Liga Portugal.
 
Sporting CP: João Virgínia [GK], Luís Neto (Gonçalo Inácio, 87'), Sebastián Coates [C], Matheus Reis, Gonçalo Esteves, Manuel Ugarte (Matheus Nunes, 60'), Daniel Bragança, Nuno Santos, Bruno Tabata, Pablo Sarabia (Pedro Gonçalves, 45') and Tiago Tomás.