Sporting CP draw 2-2 at the Estádio da Luz

The derby between Sporting Clube de Portugal and SL Benfica at the Estádio da Luz ended in a 2-2 draw earning both teams a point apiece in Liga Portugal. Francisco Trincao and Pedro Gonçalves were both on the scoresheet for Os Leões.

Still without Hidemasa Morita available, coach Rúben Amorim made two changes to his starting XI. Gonçalves returned to the side from suspension to partner Manuel Ugarte in midfield, and Nuno Santos replaced Arthur Gomes on the left wing. There was also a call up for Youssef Chermiti to form part of the squad.

As expected, the contest started evenly matched, with many duels in the middle of the park, but it was Sporting CP who created the first opportunity. Pedro Porro, from a direct free kick, forced Vlachodimos to make an excellent save, then a sprint by Marcus Edwards led to him picking out Paulinho -with the goalkeeper again intervening.

Sporting CP managed to break through Benfica's pressure and enjoy more of the ball, limiting the home side to only getting close to Antonio Adan's goal on one occasion in the 20th minute: João Mário and then Rafa were both denied.

In response, on the 27th minute, Sporting CP made it 0-1 with an own goal by Bah, who deflected the ball in off a cross by Marcus Edwards.

Forced to chase the game, SL Benfica swiftly restored the stalemate through Gonçalo Ramos, in the 37th minute, and through to the interval there was no more danger of note from either team.

When the teams came back out, practically from the first move off the restart, Paulinho was knocked down in the area and, after a VAR check, referee Artur Soares Dias gave a penalty.

Gonçalves stepped up to the spot, and converted to return the advantage to Os Leões -to the delight of the 3,000-plus Sporting CP fans in attendance at the away end.
Right afterwards, Trincão could have added to the lead, but shot over.

Another spell of pressure from Benfica followed, and with it came another equaliser, as Gonçalo Ramos made it 2-2.

After the goal, SL Benfica continued to have more of the ball, but never managed to scare Adan and Sporting CP gradually balanced out the control of the game. Amorim decided to freshen up the team, with the addition of Arthur Gomes and Youssef Chermiti, the latter an 18-year-old striker making his debut for the first team.

In the last ten minutes, Jovane Cabral came in for Trincao. Chermiti almost enjoyed a dream debut with a long ball that found him in the area, but his shot went over the top.

A final score of 2-2 saw the spoils shared in the Lisbon derby. Sporting CP are back in action on Friday, January 20th, at home to FC Vizela.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Gonçalo Inácio, Sebastián Coates [C], Matheus Reis (Jeremiah St. Juste, 67'), Pedro Porro, Manuel Ugarte, Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos, Marcus Edwards (Arthur Gomes, 77' ), Paulinho (Youssef Chermiti, 77') and Francisco Trincao (Jovane Cabral, 89').