Jorge Jesus on final day win

"We wanted to finish with a win and the fans came out for us again. I thought the lads were great today and found it easy to score", said Jorge Jesus after his side's 4-1 win against Chaves this Sunday.

Despite the win, Jesus saw this as a time for reflection on what was a tough season: "We finished with 70 points, which is 16 less than last season."

The Alvalade coach also took a moment to focus on two of his star performers: "Gelson used to be a very individual player, but now he gets involved with the rest of the team. He has really developed tactically throughout the season. We were hoping Bas Dost would win the Golden Boot, but Messi can score every which way. However it was a really important season for him and for Sporting CP."

Bas Dost hattrick secures final-day victory

Sporting CP emphatically dismissed two recent defeats with a demolition of Chaves (4-1) this Sunday, on the final day of this season's Liga NOS campaign. Of course it was Bas Dost who did the damage, bagging yet another hattrick on an evening that also saw Matheus Pereira find the back of the net.

Alvalade's Dutch hitman showed signs of what was to come after just three minutes, with an attempted backheel that the Chaves keeper managed to deny. Sporting CP continued to push the pace and Chaves struggled, resorting to some heavy tackles in an attempt to break up the play. On 10 minutes Podence was brought crashing down in the area by Ponck and Dost stepped up for the conversion from 12 yards.

The narrowest of leads that really didn't last long, because Sporting CP's number 28 was at it again after quarter of an hour with a towering header to make it 2-0. Another 15 minutes later Matheus Pereira also got his name on the scoresheet after some brilliant work by the in-form Gelson Martins.

With the result virtually in the back Jorge Jesus' side slowed the pace after the break, while Chaves looked to find a consolation. Jefferson hammered a shot against the bar on the 52 minute, but it was the visitors who struck when Willian converted on a cross from Lenho.

A balanced last half an hour followed, with the odd chance at both ends, before Bas Dost rounded off what has been a brilliant season with his 34th goal of the campaign.

Jorge Jesus on the last game of the campaign

The last match of the season, the 2017/18 campaign and the coming transfer window were the three main topics covered by Jorge Jesus in this Saturday's pre-match press conference. While keeping the focus on winning the three points on Liga NOS matchday 34, the Alvalade coach also dismissed rumours on his relationship with president Bruno de Carvalho.

"This is the last game of a season that hasn't gone how we wanted it to. Our last game wasn't how we wanted it to be either. We are on the back of two loses and the atmosphere isn't great now, but we want to end this season with a win for the fans. We want to finish on a good note and turn our attention to next season", opened Jesus, who is already looking ahead to a series of preparatory meetings with Bruno de Carvalho: "We have ideas to talk about and we are working on them. What we want next season is one that is like my first here. A team that fights tooth and nail for the title. That is what we are looking to build and that is what we will be talking about."

To finish Jorge Jesus proved puzzled in relation to interest in Adrien, William Carvalho and Rui Patrício: "I honestly don't know anything about what is being said in the press. They are all important players for us, they are Euro 2016 winners and they are central to our project. We have grown in terms of developing our players and losing one of them wouldn't be complete unexpected."

Bruno de Carvalho speaks out to the fans through his official Facebook page

"To put it bluntly, in terms of football this season has been a disappointment" is one of the strongest comments made by the Sporting CP president through his official Facebook account this week following two loses in Chaves. However, Bruno de Carvalho isn't about to throw in the towel.

Chaves net late goal to put Sporting CP out of the Portuguese Cup

With a total of five changes to starting XI against Chaves this Tuesday in comparison to Saturday's fixture, Sporting CP were unable to secure the win and saw this season's Portuguese Cup campaign brought to an end by a late goal from the host.

With Beto, Paulo Oliveira, Jefferson, Bryan Ruiz and André in for Rui Patrício, Rúben Semedo, Bruno César, Campbell and Alan Ruiz the team from Alvalade made nervy start to the encounter and Beto was called into action twice in the first 15 minutes.

Eventually Sporting CP settled and both Gelson Martins (27') and Coates (41') came close to goal before the break, before both Jefferson and André were forced off for injury (replaced by Bruno César and Campbell).

Sporting CP came out much better after the break and determined to get ahead. After three minutes of action Bruno César picked out Bas Dost for the Dutchman to fire just wide of the mark.

The fixture looked to be heading for extra-time but an 87th minute header Ponck following a free-kick from the right got the better of Beto and ended Sporting CP's 2016-17 Cup hopes.

Raúl José on the weekend's draw in Chaves

Speaking with Sporting TV in reflection the weekend's draw with GD Chaves, assistant coach Raúl José, stepping in for the suspended Jorge Jesus, showed confidence in the Alvalade squad.

"We were really close to winning the game. We were losing, but we came from behind. But for a bit of bad luck, we would have won the three points. However the lads are feeling confident that we will get into the Portuguese Cup semi-finals. We have to improve in relation to a few details over the course of the match", said Raúl José.