A 1-2 victory on a rainy night signs things off well

Sporting Clube de Portugal took a 1-2 away win over FC Famalicão on Matchday 13 of the Liga Portugal season.

In the last game before the break for the World Cup, Rúben Amorim made two changes to his starting lineups, bringing in Jeremiah St. Juste and Francisco Trincão at the expense of Flávio Nazinho and Arthur Gomes.

On a rainy night at the Estádio Municipal de Famalicão, Sporting CP went after a goal early. Gonçalo Inácio fired a first warning with a shot from distance,  but it was in the fourth minute that the team enjoyed their first chance on target: Set up by Pedro Porro, Paulinho shot with his left foot to force a save from goalkeeper Luiz Júnior.

On the 10 minute mark, an even bigger chance came their way. After Jeremiah St. Juste put the ball in the area, Trincão struck an effort against the post. Shortly after, both Pedro Gonçalves and  Trincão gave Luiz Júnior problems.

Hidemasa Morita then played through to Pedro Gonçalves and the latter, with a great feint, put himself in a good position to shoot, but Luiz Júnior parried out for a corner.

Responding to this phase of pressure from Sporting CP, FC Famalicão responded and began to stifle the momentum by packing the midfield.

The deadlock would finally be broken in the 42nd minute. A mistake by the home team's defence caused the ball to reach Paulinho, and the forward took a curling shot towards goal. Trincão got a touch to it, and was officially awarded the goal by Liga Portugal.

When it looked as if the score would remain 0-1 at the interval, Trincão tried a cross in that was blocked by Rúben Lima with his arm, and Sporting CP were awarded a penalty.

Gonçalves stepped up to score his seventh goal in 2022/23, making it 0-2.

The intensity of the rain increased in the second half, affecting the condition of the playing surface in the process.

FC Famalicão could have reduced the gap in the opening moments, when Jhonder Cádiz tried to score from a header, but Antonio Adán collected safely.

In the 59th minute, Matheus Reis made way for Arthur Gomes, who had an immediate chance with a counterattack that ended with a shot going slightly wide. Off the corner kick that followed, Morita managed to put the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

With 20 minutes to go, and after a shot by Paulinho had been parried away by Luiz Júnior, Marcus Edwards came on for Trincão.

FC Famalicão reduced the deficit through Iván Jaime, who scored with an acrobatic shot that deflected off Jeremiah St. Juste to trick Antonio Adán.

The home team began to put more and more pressure on Sporting CP's area, and in the 85th minute only a huge header from Inácio prevented an equaliser.

Sporting CP held on for a 1-2 win. Their next game will be on November 30th, when they host SC Farense in the first round of the Taça da Liga group stage.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Jeremiah St. Juste, Sebastián Coates [C], Gonçalo Inácio, Pedro Porro, Hidemasa Morita, Manuel Ugarte, Matheus Reis (Arthur Gomes, 59'), Francisco Trincão (Marcus Edwards, 70'), Pedro Gonçalves e Paulinho (Ricardo Esgaio, 80').