Jorge Jesus' side move clear at the top of Liga NOS with dominating showing in Madeira
Sporting CP moved clear at the top of Liga NOS this weekend, courtesy of a dominating performance in Madeira. Slimani netted twice, with and Adrien and João Mário also finding the back of the net in a 4-0 win.
Needing a win to create a bit of breathing room at the top of the table, Jorge Jesus' side were straight to business at the opening whistle and after just three minutes a João Mário corner saw Slimani ghost around the Nacional defence and head in the first of the evening.
Buoyed by the early goal, Sporting simply oozed confidence, moving possession around and pushing forward almost at will. Chances soon began to materialise, but Nacional managed to keep their deficit to a minimum, also in part due to some sloppy finishing. On 28 minutes, João Pereira broke away down the right flank and pulled a cross back into the area, but João Aurélio managed to scramble in front of Slimani and Bryan Ruiz and desperately clear away.
Nacional were doing very little in attack, but a dead-ball situation in the 33rd minute did have Rui Patrício twitching, when Salvador Agra blazed a free-kick just over the bar. With the hosts' best chance so far finishing up in the stands, Sporting again took control of proceedings and the typically dominating Adrien Silva and William Carvalho complete bossed the middle of the park.
Sporting have been particularly deadly going forward on the break so far this season and the evening in Madeira was proving no different, but set pieces were also looking particularly venomous for the hosts. On 38 minutes, Bryan Ruiz floated in a cross and Coates won the duel with his defender, but the final header finished up the wrong side of Gottardi's post. Shortly after, an injury to Bruno César saw Carlos Mané introduced into the action behind Slimani, while Bryan Ruiz moved out wide.
It was actually Carlos Mané who could have extended his side's lead, after a move from João Mário and Slimani set up the Portuguese international inside the area, but the under-21's placed effort ended up the wrong side of the woodwork to keep the score at 1-0 as the half-time whistle sounded.
The second-half got underway as the first had finished, with Jorge Jesus' side going forward at will. After a long spell of pressure, Nacional finally broke in the 52nd minute, when Adrien converted on a penalty after Rui Correia had handballed in the area. However, the 2-0 lead was shortlived, because 11 minutes late Slimani showed his usual determination to battled back possession in the area and lashed a shot against the crossbar. The Algerian was left frustrated, but João Mário was on hand to put away the rebound.
Sporting continued to dominate and another goal for the visitors always looked more likely than a first for the hosts. Next to try their luck were Slimani and Aquilani, but Gottardi managed to save the Algerian's shot and Aquilani was unable to find the target. A fourth looked to be just a matter of time in coming and with 5 minutes left of regulation time, Schelotto was brought crashing down by Sequeira in the area for a penalty. Slimani was called up for the resulting spot-kick and the Alvalade forward smartly obliged by sending Gottardi the wrong way to set the final result at 4-0.
