Os Leões win 5-0 against CS Marítimo

Sporting Clube de Portugal secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the Taça da Liga by beating CS Marítimo 5-0 at the Estádio José Alvalade. The win took them to three wins in three games, as they defend the trophy in 2022/23. They will now play SC Braga in the knockout stage of the competition on December 19th.

Weather conditions in the Lisbon area meant that the contest was held behind closed doors.

For the last match of the group stage, Rúben Amorim fielded a starting XI of Franco Israel, Gonçalo Inácio, Sebastián Coates, Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro, Manuel Ugarte, Mateus Fernandes, Jovane Cabral, Arthur Gomes , Paulinho and Francisco Trincao.

Os Leões took under a minute to open the scoring. Matheus Reis fed the ball to Arthur Gomes on the left and he crossed low into the area, where Paulinho finished off the chance.

The second goal came from a ball in from the right, played in by Pedro Porro and again converted by Paulinho.

With the score at 2-0, the striker rounded off his hat trick on the half-hour. Jovane Cabral played a through ball and Paulinho ricocheted the ball in off the goalkeeper as Miguel Silva tried to smother.

Just before the break, and after Porro had also put the CS Marítimo goalkeeper to the test, it was Cabral's turn to have an attempt off Trincão's pass from the left, but the ball went over the top.

The visiting team even tried to respond, with Bruno Xadas striking wide.

A series of chances opened the second stanza, including Cabral receiving from Trincão and shooting off target with only the CS Marítimo goalkeeper in front of him.

The pace dropped as the second half progressed, but some goal opportunities continued to be created. The best, at the start of the last 20 minutes, saw Matheus Reis shoot with his right foot and be denied by Miguel Silva.

The fourth goal was a result of a Mateus Fernandes pass on 73 minutes, and although Porro had work to do, he hit the ball with pace to score.

Soon after, Rúben Amorim made three substitutions at once, taking off Manuel Ugarte, Porro and Trincão, bringing in Sotiris, Ricardo Esgaio and Pedro Gonçalves. Fatawu also entered, for the last ten minutes, replacing Paulinho.

Sporting CP continued to look to increase their advantage and, in the 86th minute, scored again. Arthur Gomes attempted a cross which the visiting goalkeeper ended up deflecting into his own net

With a perfect record and 13 goals scored -with none conceded- Sporting CP move on to the quarter-finals on Monday night.