A 0-1 loss to CD Santa Clara comes despite dominance in play

Sporting Clube de Portugal suffered their first league defeat of the season on Matchday 12, losing 0-1 at home to CD Santa Clara.

The first and fourth placed teams faced each other, with Sporting CP fielding Vladan Kovačević, Zeno Debast, Ousmane Diomande, Matheus Reis, Geovany Quenda, Daniel Bragança, Morten Hjulmand, Geny Catamo, Francisco Trincão, Viktor Gyökeres and Marcus Edwards in their first XI.

High pressure was present from the beginning, with the game being played in the midfield and in the CD Santa Clara area during the opening minutes. The first shot on goal came from  Gyökeres, receiving from Trincão, but on the half-turn he shot wide of the goal. Minutes later, in another attacking move by Sporting CP, Catamo was pulled back in the area, but the referee firmly waved off the penalty appeal.

Then followed minutes of less attractive football, with several fouls and stoppages, but, once the rhythm had recovered, Sporting CP once again attacked. Reis' shot from inside the penalty area, after a pass from Edwards, went wide, then Trincão missed a header from the Englishman's delivery.

Trincão looked at goal again with a shot from the edge of the area, but the ball was intercepted, whilst from the resulting corner the opposition managed a clearance.

Hjulmand shot wide as the opportunities continued, but Sporting CP were made to pay for their profligacy. Faced with some passivity from the home team, CD Santa Clara opened the scoring with a shot from the edge of the area.

Bragança managed to give Gabriel Batista trouble and Quenda shot over the crossbar before the end of the half, but the game went into the interval with the score at 0-1.

Conrad Harder and Maxi Araújo started to warm up right after the break and entered at the beginning of the second half, with Edwards and Quenda going off. Catamo moved to the right wing and the Uruguayan international went to the left.

Os Leões were having difficulty finding spaces and causing danger, but Catamo and Gyökeres still kept Gabriel Batista busy.

Pereira also tested Kovačević with another CD Santa Clara shot from distance, but the goalkeeper was attentive and held onto the ball.

On the hour, two more changes were made by Sporting CP, with the departures of Debast and Reis, as Gonçalo Inácio and Jeremiah St. Juste were introduced.

In the 70th minute, the equaliser was in sight, but Gyökeres' header went wide. Minutes later, a corner for Sporting CP ended with Diomande heading over.

Less than 15 minutes from time, Hidemasa Morita replaced Hjulmand and the chances continued for the team, with Batista making a save and a penalty given for a foul on Araújo being reversed by VAR.

With less than ten minutes to play, time was running out for Sporting CP, and CD Santa Clara continued to stop the game frequently. They tried to make it 0-2 with another shot from distance, but Kovačević kept the effort out.

St. Juste was off target with another header following a free kick, and the goal would not come for Sporting CP. They lost the game 0-1.

Os Leões, who will face CD Santa Clara again on December 18th in the Round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup, will play again next Thursday, in Moreira de Cónegos, against Moreirense.