Matheus Pereira scores twice in Sporting B revival

It isn't normal for a sending off to damage the side who enjoys the numerical advantage, but that was certainly the case at the Sporting Academy this Saturday. In the words of Oriental coach João Barbosa: "We controlled the game until we went a man up. After that we just weren't the same team." In fact, Sporting scored three goals after Dramé's red card, although there had been no shortage of chances beforehand..

It was Dramé who has the first chances of the afternoon, first from a free-kick and then following a break instigated by Betinho, but he was unable to capitalise pn either. Domingos Duarte also pulled a fine stop out of the Oriental keeper Mota, following a corner. Down the other end, Oriental created a decent opportunity that Pedro Silva did well to deny. Then game the moment that really defined the afternoon, when Dramé was given his marching orders for a hard tackle. According to Francisco Barão in his press conference, that saw Sporting begin banging the ball up for Betinho, unlocking the Oriental resistance.

You would have expected the visitors to dominate after the break, given their extra man and Sporting B's recent run of form, but the complete opposite happened. Oriental opened the second-half with their best chance on goal with a header that finished off target, but from then on João de Deus' side clicked into gear.

After Podence wasted a golden opportunity, Betinho picked up a loose ball in the area and slotted the afternoon's opener. João de Deus responded instantly to the precious lead, taking off Betinho and introducting Chaby.

The tactical fine-tuning did just the trick and the midfield trio of Bubacar Djaló, Ryan Gauld and Chaby smartly went about bossing territory, while Matheus Pereira and Podence began picking holes in the Oriental defence. A bit of indecisive defending saw a clearance land with Podence, who carried the ball forward before Matheus rounded the keeper for the second goal of the encounter. In the dying stages another bit of play between Matheus, Podence and Chaby saw the latter brought down in the area for a penalty that Matheus Pereira netted to set the final result at 3-0. 

Ledman CEO Martin Lee in Alcochete

The Sporting Academy hosted a visit from the new sponsors of II Liga this week. Also attending the visit of the Chinese company Ledman was the president of the Portuguese Professional Football League, Pedro Proença. "China is doing a lot in sports training now and with them wanting to learn so much, we couldn't let the chance to visit the Sporting Academy go", affirmed Pedro Proença about the visit.

The committee, headed by CEO Martin Lee, was hosted by Vírgilio Lopes. After a guided visit around the vast complex, Martin Lee himself explained what led to investment in Portugal: "The Chinese football market is only starting now. We are here to study and to learn about football culture and the training system used in Portugal."

The objective, affirmed the Ledman CEO, is to "link Portuguese and Chinese football and to train more quality Chinese players". Speaking on the same links, Pedro Proença added that "the Chinese have three main objective over the coming years: to quality for the World Cup, to organise a World Cup and to win the World Cup."

The visit finished with a presentation of an official Sporting shirt to Martin Lee.