Sporting put six past Setúbal, with Bruno César debut double

Sporting dished out an absolute thrashing of Vitória de Setúbal this Wednesday night, with braces from Slimani and Bruno César and strikes from João Mário and Alberto Aquilani securing a 6-0 win. With FC Porto also held to a draw by Rio Ave, the team from Alvalade now extend their lead at the top of Liga NOS to four points.

With Bruno César handed his debut, João Mário down the right and Bryan Ruiz again featuring off Slimani in attack, Jorge Jesus' made it clear early on that Lukas Raeder was going to be given a busy night in the hosts' goal. Slimani has the first chance of the encounter with a header that lacked power and Ruiz followed up with a decent opportunity after a cross by Bruno César knocked on by Adrien, but the Costa Rican's shot was deflected over.

It really looked like just a matter of time before the evening's opening goal and Slimani obliged in the 18th minute, converting on a cross from Bruno César after Jefferson released the Alvalade newcomer down the wing. Sporting set up camp in the Setúbal half and chances naturally followed, next with Paulo Oliveira pulling a stop out of Raeder with a shot following a corner.

Bruno César, who had already done his fair share on his debut by setting up Slimani's opener, began what would go on to become a dream start in a sporting shirt with a goal of his own, after João Mário linked up with Slimani charging forward. Possession ended up with the Brazilian and he obliged with a great strike three minutes before the break.

Vitória introduced Vasco Costa to the action alongside Suk in attack (in place of Paulo Tavares), but the change did little to alter the hosts fortunes against a rampant Sporting. In the 52nd minute Slimani struck again, heading in after some brilliant team play and a pinpoint cross from Bryan Ruiz.

The third goal finally broke the Setúbal's resistance and Sporting turned on the flare. Next on the scoresheet was João Mário, bursting away down the left and into the middle, leaving defenders trailing and finding the net from range. Not to be outdone, Bruno César again struck (61') with another unstoppable leftfoot from the edge of the area.

With the win comfortably secured, Jesus made the most of the dying stages to bring on Gelson, Aquilani and Matheus Pereira (for Bruno César, Adrien and Bryan Ruiz, respectively). However, not even the change in personnel slowed down the Alvalade attack and after Slimani saw his hattrick denied by Lukas Raeder's instinctive save, it was the recently introduced Italian who rounded off the scoring with five minutes left on the clock, beating the keeper with a classy finish after João Mário had danced his way into the area.

Tickets snapped up in just four hours

Jorge Jesus' pre-match press conference ahead of trip to V. Setúbal

While accepting that his side will face a tough trip to Setúbal this Wednesday evening, Jorge Jesus was in an affirmative mood in his pre-match press conference this week, setting out his objective of staying on top of the Liga NOS pile for as long as possible.

“It will be difficult, not only because of the quality of our opponent, but also because of how their fans get behind their team. However, we are back in first place and we want to defend that and we will play to win like we always do. I won't say a lot about possible changes. We have made some in the Europa League, but of course we might do it again and that is my way of playing", opened the Alvalade boss, going on to speak about Vitória, recent praise for him from the opposition coach and the likely state of the pitch: "Vitória are having a good season. We all like to be ready for our critics, in the good and the bad times, and I think I have contributed to Portuguese football. The Vitória coach is doing that as well, just like other coaches who have welcomed new ideas. The hardest thing for us will be how V. Setúbal approach the game, as well as the quality of some of their individual players. I don't know how the pitch will be and I don't know if Vitória have trained there or not. I know that Quim Machado, the Vitória coach, would like to have a good pitch as well, because we both play good football and it will be harder if the pitch is full of holes.”

In parallel, Jesus dismissed the suggestion of added pressure brought by topping the league table: "First place doesn't bring any pressure or extra responsibility. We had the goal of getting into first and we were for a while. We lost it for one match and now we are back in first. We are on the right track, amongst Benfica and FC Porto. We have shown in the first third of the season that we have what it takes. Tomorrow is a tough step, but we want to carry on where we are."

To finish, the Sporting coach commented on Teo Gutiérrez, as well as rumours of a search for a defender during the transfer window: "As well as Slimani I have Montero and Tanaka up front. Teo is authorised to be what he is doing and what matters are the players I have available right now. He will be back at the end of the week and we will go into the next third of the season with him. Tobias has been a true professional and he has shown a lot of respect for the club. Even when he wasn't ready, he tried his best to help. Speaking about possible signings isn't worth it right now, especially because we have players in the B team if we need them."

V. Setúbal-Sporting will kick off at 20h15 tomorrow in Estádio do Bonfim, Setúbal.

Tickets for Sp. Braga and Tondela

Tickets for the matches against Sp. Braga and Tondela go on sale this Monday, priced as follows:

Sporting – Sp. Braga

STAND A
Central – 25 euros for Club Members and 35 euros for fans
Lateral – 20 euros for Club Members and 30 euros for fans
Goal End – 15 euros for Club Members and 25 euros for fans
Under-23/Senior – 15 euros for Club Members

STAND B
Central – 20 euros for Club Members and 25 euros for fans
Lateral – 15 euros for Club Members and 20 euros for fans
Goal End – 10 euros for Club Members and 15 euros for fans
Under-23/ Senior – 10 euros for Club Members
Under-11 – 5 euros for Club Members
Anti-crisis – 5 euros for Club Members

Sporting – Tondela

STAND A
Central – 20 euros for Club Members and 30 euros for fans
Lateral – 15 euros for Club Members and 25 euros for fans
Goal End – 10 euros for Club Members and 20 euros for fans
Under-23/Senior – 10 euros for Club Members

STAND B
Central – 15 euros for Club Members and 20 euros for fans
Lateral – 10 euros for Club Members and 15 euros for fans
Goal End – 7 euros for Club Members and 12 euros for fans
Under-23/ Senior – 7 euros for Club Members
Under-11 – 3.5 euros for Club Members
Anti-crisis – 5 euros for Club Members

Sales begin on the 5th of January

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 16, between Vitória Futebol Clube and Sporting Clube de Portugal, will go on sale at the Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices as follows:

TUESDAY (10H TO 20H) | Club Members with a 2015/2016 Gamebox and December 2015 fees paid
WEDNESDAY (10H TO 14H) | Club Members with December 2015 fees paid
WEDNESDAY (FROM 14H) | General public

Kick off is scheduled for 20h15 on Wednesday the 6th of January, in Estádio do Bonfim. Tickets are priced at €10.

Jorge Jesus reflects on his side's win against FC Porto and the title race so far

"Sporting played better than FC Porto today, but before I say anything about the game I have to say that these fans deserve a great team. They showed the strength of this club and fans game from everywhere to be here. The fans deserve the players to be playing at this level", opened Jorge Jesus in a flash interview at the final whistle on Saturday night.

Having masterminded yet another win against one of Portugal's Big 3, Jesus played it cool: "There is no secret to this, it is just hard work. The key to the match was the first goal and the team got it. It looked more likely that it would be 2-0 than 1-1 or 3-0 than 2-1 and the fairest result I think would have been 3-1. I have to say that I liked FC Porto and I think they have some strong players individually. It isn't easy to stop them.

In parallel, Jesus was cautious to warn that there is still a lot of football to play this season and that it is too early to be commenting on the title race: “It was just another three points, just like the ones we lost in Madeira. This result could have an influence in the tie-breaker, but nothing more than that. We have a hard road ahead of us and we will try and defend first place for as long as we can. Nobody can guarantee anything in football, but we will fight to achieve our objectives right up to the last game of the season. You asked me before the game if I thought Sporting were the best team and I said I thought FC Porto where because they were in first. After today, we are in first."

Islam Slimani after his side's 2-0 win against FC Porto

Islam Slimani stole the show against FC Porto this Saturday night with two goals to move Sporting back to the top of Liga NOS.

Speaking with radio journalists at the final whistle, the big Algerian was keen to point out the influence of Jorge Jesus: "It was an important win for us, because now we are two points clear at the top of the league. It was a hard match, but we did what we had to do to win. We have shown the quality of this team match after match and we believe in the work we are doing. The coach has done a good job and he has brought a lot to the team."

Sporting leading Liga NOS after convincing display against FC Porto

There is no disputing the facts: in four matches this season against either Benfica or FC Porto, Sporting has won all four. Just as impressive as the wins is the goal difference in clashes with the other two members of Portugal's 'Big 3': 8-1 in favour of the team from Alvalade. In the two Liga NOS wins (3-0 in Estádio da Luz and 2-0 against FC Porto in Alvalade), Sporting's opponents had no more than one single chance on goal during both matches.

With Matheus making the first official senior start of his career and Bryan Ruiz playing off Slimani up front, Sporting began on an offensive footing and soon began threatening the visitors' goal. After a series of corners, João Mário put low shot wide of the post, before Bryan Ruiz and Matheus also failed to find the target from range.

On-way traffic towards the FC Porto goal continued and in the 27th minute justice was done to the scores when Slimani rose highest to convert from a Jefferson free-kick deep down the left flank.

Five tminues later Adrien tested Casillas with a stinging effort, before FC Porto had their only chance of the evening after, breaking away against the run of play. However, Rui Patrício wasn't about to be unfairly beaten and the Alvalade shotstopper denied Aboubakar one-on-one of what looked to be a certain goal.

After a more or less balanced spell after the break, Sporting again began to dominate. Dropping back and happily letting FC Porto hold down possession and push their lines higher, Jorge Jesus' charges began to create chances from speedy counter-attacks and penetrating balls over the top. The tactic worked wondered and four minutes after hour mark Slimani looked to have scored his second of the evening after doing everything right and keeping his effort down, but the Algerian's powerful header ended bouncing up onto the crossbar. From the follow up Bryan Ruiz drove a half-volley towards goal that Casillas turned around the post, before Adrien smashed a low drive against the woodwork from range.

Despite holding down possession, FC Porto were simply unable to create anything going forward and Sporting's second goal was hardly a surprise, when Slimani hooked on to a good pass from Bryan Ruiz to send Alvalade into delirium and move Sporting back to the top of Liga NOS.

Jorge Jesus shares his thoughts ahead of Saturday's FC Porto showdown

Jorge Jesus is expecting a balanced evening of football when his side hosts FC Porto this Saturday, with the Liga NOS top spot up for grabs.

“The stadium selling out is normal right now for how we are playing and for this kind of match. The fans and the players have been sharing a lot of emotion this season and you need that at a club like Sporting. The fans will show again tomorrow what they can do", opened the Sporting coach in his habitual pre-match press conference.

“FC Porto are a great side with quality players, but Sporting are a quality side as well and it will be like it usually is when we take on a big side. What I want is for our quality to make the difference against FC Porto", added Jesus, continuing: "I don't know what the coach on the other side is thinking, but I have to try and guess. I don't think them being in first now will change much for how FC Porto will organise in attack or defence, because it is a team with a fixed style that you can't just change."

Asked to comment on previous episodes between the two Portuguese giants, as well as his previous run-ins with the FC Porto coach, Jesus preferred to focus on the football: "The most important thing in the match is the players and the collective and individual quality of both sides. The match is here and now and I will acknowledge my colleague like I would any other. I wouldn't say that the fans add more pressure, because the season has its ups and downs anyway and the players are always under that kind of pressure. You can't really say that there is a favorite, because such a thing only exists when there is a big difference between."

Responding on a question on FC Porto's current occupation of 1st place in Liga NOS and how is influences his side, Jesus went on: “In practice it is a little bit harder for the team in second, because when you are in front the team behind you has to make up ground. The team chasing first place is Sporting. We said for several weeks that we wanted to defend first place and now we want to chase it down again. We started this season with a lot of emotion and belief that it would be a better season than the last one. We know you can't just turn up and wins come naturally, but the fact is that we have won a trophy and we are fighting to be top of the league."

Sporting-FC Porto will kick off at 20h45 on Saturday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Hugo Miguel named for Liga NOS matchday 15

Hugo Miguel, 38, from the Lisbon Football Association, has been named to take charge of Liga NOS matchday 15 between Sporting and FC Porto.

Hernâni Fernandes and Bruno Trindade will act as linesmen.

This season Hugo Miguel has already officiated over Sporting's win over Rio Ave on Liga NOS matchday 4.

Sporting-FC Porto will get underway at 20h45 on Saturday the 2nd of January, in Estádio José Alvalade.