The team lose 1-0 to Varzim SC

Sporting Clube de Portugal fell to a shock defeat to Varzim SC in the Taça de Portugal, exiting the competition in the Third Round stage.

Coach Rúben Amorim made several changes to the starting XI, rotating his squad to bring in José Marsà, Pedro Porro, Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Paulinho. They replaced Sebastián Coates, Ricardo Esgaio, Manuel Ugarte and Pedro Gonçalves, who had started against Olympique Marseille.

Notable on the substitutes bench was the presence of Jovane Cabral, in his first involvement of 2022/2023, and youngsters Diogo Travassos and Renato Veiga. 

As expected, Sporting CP had more of the ball and put Varzim SC on the ropes early In the eighth minute, Francisco Trincao shot over the top and, shortly after, Gonçalo Inácio had his first great scoring opportunity: Off a corner kick from Nuno Santos, the defender headed just a few centimeters over the crossbar.

A Trincão header wide was followed by Varzim SC starting to move forward, with Paulo Moreira shooting unsuccessfully from a direct free kick.

Around half an hour in, Trincão appeared to be in an excellent position to score, but was unable to get the shot off well. A few minutes later, Pedro Porro ran well down the right and fired a shot that bounced off the post.

Both Sotiris Alexandropoulos and Hidemasa Morita tried their luck from outside the area before the interval, but the game went into halftime with the score at 0-0.

The start of the second half saw two changes: The appearance of rain and the introduction of Pedro Gonçalves in place of Sotiris Alexandropoulos. In the opening minutes, Nuno Santos shot from distance, wide of the post.

In the 54th minute, Varzim SC threatened off a free kick on the right, which Julián Bonilla headed into the mixer and Bruno Bernardo deflected out.

Sporting CP once again created danger, as Paulinho had two consecutive attacks and Morita hit a powerful drive off target.

Manuel Ugarte and Fatawu came in for Marcus Edwards and Pedro Porro, with Gonçalves moving into the attacking trio. In one of his first interventions, Fatawu struck into the side netting.

Against the run of play, Varzim SC scored in the 70th minute. Following a free kick on the right, an interception by Paulinho sent the ball to the far post, where João Faria got the final deflection and made it 1-0 to the home team.

With a quarter of an hour to go, Amorim brought in Rochinha. Close to the 90th minute, Cabral had his turn to play his first minutes of the campaign, replacing Nuno Santos.

Sporting CP pushed for the equaliser, but it was not to be and Varzim SC eliminated them from the Taça de Portugal.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GR], Gonçalo Inácio [C], José Marsà, Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro (Fatawu, 59'), Sotiris Alexandropoulos (Pedro Gonçalves, 46'), Hidemasa Morita (Rochinha, 76'), Nuno Santos (Jovane Cabral, 84'), Francisco Trincao, Marcus Edwards (Manuel Ugarte, 59') and Paulinho.