Sporting CP beat FC Arouca 1-2 in Leiria

Sporting Clube de Portugal booked their place in the Taça da Liga final with a 1-2 win against FC Arouca, as their defence of the crown continues. Two goals from Paulinho helped the team through to the last stage of the competition.

Rúben Amorim decided to bring in Ricardo Esgaio on the right, replacing Pedro Porro, and returned Jeremiah St. Juste to the defensive axis in place of Gonçalo Inácio. In midfield, Morita partnered with Manuel Ugarte, with Pedro Gonçalves moved forward to complete the attack alongside Marcus Edwards and Paulinho. Francisco Trincao missed the game due to illness.

At the Estádio Municipal de Leiria, Sporting CP were up against a side in excellent form and sixth in the league table, but were in control of proceedings in the early stages. In a clever move, Edwards outwitted three defenders and laid the ball off to Nuno Santos, who crossed for Paulinho -his strike being stopped on the line.

Strong attacks, mainly down the left wing, created difficulties for the Arouquenses, who barely had the ball for more than a few moments. Sporting CP settled in the midfield and began to mount chances, including a strong shot from distance by Nuno Santos, tipped out by goalkeeper Thiago.

Shortly before the break, Nuno Santos had another attempt on goal parried away by Thiafo, off a direct free kick, followed by a goal for FC Arouca ruled out for handball after a VAR check.

In a frantic end to the first half, Sporting CP made it 0-1. Nuno Santos crossed behind the opposition defense, where Gonçalves played on to Paulinho. The striker forced the ball over the line to put the team ahead in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

In the second half, Matheus Reis believed he had doubled the lead in the 53rd minute, but the goal was disallowed for offside. FC Arouca showed signs of mounting a fightback, and got their equaliser in the 58th minute, as Dabbagh made it 1-1.

On the hour, Gonçalo Inácio came in for St. Juste and Sporting CP went on the attack, trying to recover the dominance they had shown in the opening stages. The chances did not take long to emerge, with Santos crossing from the left to Paulinho and the latter having his effort blocked.

Antonio Adán was called into a rare save soon thereafter, and that was the signal for Amorim to make further adjustments: Pedro Porro and Arthur Gomes both came on for the last quarter of an hour, and the former did not take long to send a shot whistling past the post.

The winning goal finally arrived in the closing ten minutes, as Santos' cross was pushed into the net from close range by Paulinho. The eighth goal by the striker in the Taça da Liga this year -the highest in the competition so far- earned Sporting CP a 1-2 win and a place in Saturday's final against either Académico de Viseu FC or FC Porto.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Matheus Reis, Jeremiah St. Juste (Gonçalo Inácio, 64'), Sebastián Coates [C], Ricardo Esgaio (Pedro Porro, 77'), Hidemasa Morita (Arthur Gomes, 77'), Manuel Ugarte (Mateo Tanlongo, 85'), Nuno Santos, Marcus Edwards (Youssef Chermiti, 85'), Pedro Gonçalves and Paulinho.