The coach reviews a comeback win against Gil Vicente FC

After Sporting CP's 3-1 win over Gil Vicente FC which made the team sole leaders of Liga Portugal, coach Rúben Amorim analysed the match. He considered that, despite having trailed, his team deserved the three points and could have come away with a better result.

“Although we started very well, Gil Vicente FC managed to slow the game down and made it 0-1 on perhaps the only occasion that they reached our goal. Then we regained control, scored the equaliser and in the second half we were clearly the better side”, he began by telling journalists.

“We managed to push the opponents towards their goal and, with the quality of our players -which with all due respect is different to that of Gil Vicente FC-, we managed to make a difference. It was a fair victory, which could have seen more goals from Sporting CP," he emphasised.

The coach acknowledged the importance of Viktor Gyökeres, who scored twice, but rejected the idea that the team depend too much on the striker.

“We are not 'hostages' to Viktor, but the influence he has had, not only for the goals, but also in stretching the game and exciting the fans, is huge. It's clear to everyone that he is the most influential player and has a prominent role, but the season is very long and everyone will have that role. If he is becoming an important player there is no way to hide it."
 
He later explained why he introduced Jeremiah St. Juste, Geny Catamo and Matheus Reis at half-time, justifying the decision with the need to change the team's way of playing.

“We had a very strong start, but then we conceded the goal and the game wasn't flowing. We tried to change the way we played, but to do that we had to switch players. It was a little unfair for those who came off [Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Esgaio and Nuno Santos], but the idea was to improve the team and we achieved it because we changed the opponent's reference points. This is a something in favour of the team now: We are able to change positions and this makes the task for the opponents more difficult."
St. Juste was only on the field for 22 minutes because of a bad fall in which he twisted his foot, but Amorim confirmed that he had not suffered damage to his knee or any muscle problem.

The coach also addressed the fact that this it was the team's fourth comeback from behind this season.

“This year is easier for us, because we are fighting for every trophy. That helps. Furthermore, not only do we have another capacity, but the fans are helping us. Even though we always want to win, when we suffer, the fans push us towards greater tranquility. We deserved the comeback, we continued to play as normal, we created many chances and turned things around with some degree of naturalness."

Finally, Amorim was also asked about what it was like to be back as outright leaders of Liga Portugal, a question to which he responded with a resounding “it's the same” as there are still many matches to be played.

“A lot of teams will still drop points. It's a very difficult league and this could change from matchday to matchday. We have our objective, but we go game-by-game. If we win the next match we will definitely be in the lead; that is the thinking process,” he concluded.