Jorge Jesus happy with his side's display against Skënderbeu

Speaking with the press after his side's comfortable win against Skënderbeu (5-1), Jorge Jesus was evidently happy with the season's first three Europa League points.

“The game wasn't how I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting so many goals. We knew we could win this and that is what we were looking to do, but the lads surprised me with five goals and some good play. Obviously the sending off in the first-half conditions the rest of the match and makes it a bit easier, but we naturally created chances and played some good football", opened Jesus, before speaking in more depth about some individual performances.

“Our first objective was to win, which we did. Our second was to play well, which we did. Our third was to give some of the lads some time on the pitch, which we did. I won't focus just on  Matheus Pereira, who is making the most of his chance. Bruno Paulista also looks good and Gelson as well", added the Alvalade coach, continuing: "Of course this is a win that keeps us in the fight to qualify. We knew we had to win and we will have to do the same thing in Albania so we have something to play for against Lokomotiv and Besiktas."

With the Lisbon derby just around the corner, Jesus doesn't see his side as holding the edge, despite having rested some of his big guns: "A team that plays on Thursday won't be any better rested on Sunday than a team that played on Wednesday. A team that plays on Thursday cannot prepare, because it is only two days until Sunday, while a team that plays on Wednesday has that extra day. I believe in my players and I took a gamble on them, but of course we wouldn't be saying the same thing if it had been a different result. As a coach I have to take chances and that sometimes involves a few risks. A derby is always different and you can't look too much at how the two sides are playing. We will be up against a strong team, but we are strong too and we want to win this one."

Sporting puts five past Skënderbeu for first Europa League win of the season

Sporting claimed a first win in this year’s Europa League campaign on Thursday night, with a 5-1 thrashing of Skënderbeu courtesy of a brace from Matheus Pereira (his first goals in European competition) and goals from Aquilani, Montero and Tobias Figueiredo.

The gulf in class between the two sides was laid bare right from the opening whistle, with Shehi being tested in the visitors’ goal from almost the first kick of the encounter when Montero turned well and put a ball across goal that the Skënderbeu keeper did well to collect. Seconds later, Jonathan Silva tried his luck with his off foot following a corner, but Shehi stood firm.

Some good movement and collective passing had the Albanian visitors struggling and on 14 minutes Mané was picked out by Aquilani at the edge of the box, but the Portuguese international drove his shot straight at the keeper. Two minutes later Montero looked to have done everything right after rounding the keeper, but Vangjeli scrambled back to clear off the line and André Martins failed to capitalise on the rebound.

Jesus’ side continued to press and Carlos Mané could have finally opened the scoring in the 18th minute after a cross from Esgaio, but his header was denied by another save from Shehi. It was never going to be an easy night for the Albanians, but the task was made all the more difficult with the sending off of Salihi on 23 minutes for a second bookable offence for a needless handball.

Despite being a man up, Sporting actually eased up in attack and a long spell of possession ensued, but with few chances on goal. In fact, it wasn’t until the 37th minute that the team from Alvalade finally bagged a deserved opener, when Montero was impeded in the area by Jashanica and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Up stepped Aquilani to slot away and give his side a more than fair lead. Two minutes later, Montero was again fouled in the area, this time by Vangjeli, and it was the Colombian himself who took the honours this time to make it 2-0.

Half-time did little to take the sting out of the Sporting attack and on 48 minutes the hosts could have went three up, but Shehi pulled off a double stop against Montero and the follow up from Matheus. Snowed under wave after wave of attacking football, Fatigue began to set in for the struggling Skënderbeu and Matheus Pereira obliged with a first European goal of his career with a header in the 64th minute that Shehi was helpless to stop.

Three-nil up, Sporting sensed a heavy scoreline and began to turn the screw in attack. Tobias Figueiredo made it four with a header following a free-kick guided in by Montero, before Jesus introduced Slimani, Gelson Martins and William Carvalho into the action for André Martins, Mané and Aquilani. To round off what was already a memorable night for the young forward, Matheus scored his second brace in a week with a shot across goal to grab Sporting’s 5th.

The Albanians did manage a late consolation goal through Jashanica, fairly applauded by the 20 thousand Sporting fans who had turned out for what was a completely one-sided showing.

Jorge Jesus with the press ahead of hosting of Skënderbeu

Meeting with the press ahead of Thursday’s Europa League hosting of Skënderbeu, Jesus guaranteed that his side is focused purely on the task at hand, before revealing that Matheus Pereira will feature in the starting line-up.

“This is our third match in this competition and we only have one objective: to win so that we can carry on fighting for a place in the next round. It will be a hard game against against a team that is theoretically weaker than the other teams in the group, but I don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. I know that I will put out a team out that is strong enough to come away with the win and the fact that their coach has pointed out the quality of our strikers shows that he knows us well. We really do have some quality strikers and I am a lucky coach to be honest, because the way I see it we won’t lose any quality, no matter who plays”, opened the Alvalade boss adding: “We have nothing to hide. Matheus Pereira will be in the starting team and I can’t really say anything else about the rest, because we will still have another training session tomorrow. What I will say is that almost all of the players are fully recovered now, with the exception of Bryan Ruiz, who is the only player who isn’t in full training right now.

Questions about Sunday’s derby were inevitable, but Jorge Jesus played it cool, affirming that he is squarely focused on the task at hand: “All I am thinking about is the match tomorrow. I will put two teams out, one for each game, and both will be capable of winning. Relative to Sunday, all I want to say is that I am happy to see Salvio back. I hope he has recovered well, because he is a great player, professional and friend.”

With Sporting expected to put the Albanian visitors under pressure come kick off tomorrow, Jorge Jesus already has his plan thought out: “We are sure that we will face a well organised team. I don’t know exactly how good they are, but I know they will cause us problems and we are ready for that. When there is one team that falls back in defence it reduces the space a bit and you have to be patient. Tomorrow we will look to show the class needed to tackle the difficulties we will face. It will be us attacking and we will have to find a way to score.”

Matheus Pereira focuses attention on the Europa League ahead of Sunday's derby

Sporting forward Matheus Pereira was the player chosen to speak in this week’s Europa League pre-match press conference, ahead of Thursday’s hosting of Skënderbeu.

“We always take each game as it comes and our only priority is the match against Skënderbeu and winning the three points. We will start thinking about the derby against Benfica on Friday. I am not thinking about if I can earn a place against Benfica tomorrow, I just want to help the team, keep developing and to win the game”, opened the Alvalade youngster.

In parallel, Matheus also spoke about the last couple of weeks with the senior squad, stressing that he continues with his feet firmly planted on the ground: “I have enjoyed it and I feel like I can carry on contributing to what the coach wants, with the help of my teammates. The lads who have gone into the senior team came from the youth system and through the B team, which is a good thing, but the intensity is different and there are some world class players in the squad. Naldo, Jefferson, Bruno Paulista and Ewerton have really helped me, which is normal because we are all Brazilian and it is easier for us to communicate, but the whole squad has been great with me.”

“When I scored my first goal I was really happy and I honestly couldn’t believe it. I want to carry on now”, finished the striker, reflecting on his brace in the Portuguese Cup at the weekend.
Sporting-Skënderbeu will kick off at 18h00 on Thursday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Carlos Xistra for I Liga matchday 8

Carlos Xistra, 41, from the Castelo Branco Football Association, has been named to take charge of Sporting’s visit to Estádio da Luz, on I Liga matchday eight.

Nuno Pereira and José Braga will act as linesmen.

This will be Carlos Xistra’s second derby, after the 2010/11 encounter in Estádio da Luz Luz. This season Xistra has already officiated a match involving Sporting, in the visit to Aveiro to face Tondela.

Benfica-Sporting will kick-off at 17h00 on Sunday the 25th of October, in Estádio da Luz.

Clayton Pisani (Malta) for Europa League matchday 3

The Maltese referee Clayton Pisani, 37, has been named by UEFA to take charge of Europa League Group H matchday three against Skënderbeu.

Alan Camilleri and Mitchell Scerri will act as linesmen, with Marco Borg and Philip Farrugia as additional referees. Edward Spiteri will be the fourth referee.

As noted by UEFA, the Hungarian Márton Esterházy will be the match delegate and the Ukrainian Vladimir Petrov the referee observer.

Sporting-Skënderbeu will get underway at 18h00 on the 22nd of October, in Estádio José Alvalade.

Jorge Jesus on his side's 4-0 win against Vilafranquense

Jorge Jesus was clearly happy with his side’s dominating performance against Vilafranquense (4-0) in the Portuguese Cup third round this weekend. However, the key to a comfortable afternoon for the Alvalade boss was an early goal.

“Obviously when you win it feels all the better if you can do it by a good margin. We faced a team from a lower division and they did what they could. For them our pace was completely different to what they are used to. Scoring early made it easier and kept Vilafranquense from starting to think they could keep the dream alive. Psychologically an early goal takes it out of these teams. We won by four and we could have scored more”, opened Jesus.

The afternoon was also a chance for Jesus to make a wealth of changes, which the Sporting coach saw as an extremely positive opportunity: “It is good to see our four goals scored by three of the young lads. I liked how we played collectively and I was really looking forward to seeing Bruno Paulista. It was his first match and you can see that he isn’t a normal player. All that he is missing is an idea of how we play and he will be an option for me. Matheus Pereira was also good and Gelson came on well. Aquilani is also really creative and I wanted to give him time further up the pitch. He has a lot of experience and a lot of quality with his passing.”

Sporting book fourth round place with win against Vilafranquense

Sporting moved comfortably into the Portuguese Cup fourth round this Saturday, with a 4-0 win over lower league minnows Vilafranquense in Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, courtesy of goals from Matheus Pereira (2), Bruno Paulista and Gelson Martins.

Sporting, in what was Bruno Paulista’s first official senior start and a return from a lengthy injury spell for Ewerton, burst out of the blocks for the opening whistle and could have had the ball in the back of the net after just four minutes, when Matheus Pereira was put through on goal by Montero, only to put his effort wide. Aquilani was next, but the shot ended up just off target.

Dominating in the final third, it was only a matter of time before Sporting opened the scoring. Matheus Pereira obliged on 12 minutes, when William Carvalho put in a wire-guided pass into the area which the youngster rounded off with a left footed strike. Vilafranquense could do little but bunker down under the attacking storm, before Matheus Pereira hit his second in three minutes after a brilliant pass from Jonathan Silva.

Although the early blitz essentially finished the game off, Sporting continued to press. Aquilani came close to his first Sporting goal in 19 minutes, but his guided shot was unable to catch the goalkeeper off balance and another effort two minutes later lacked any real sting. Vilafranquense did eventually have a foray forward close to the half-hour mark with a dangerous cross from Lucas Linhares, but Marcelo Boeck comfortably rose to gather. Aquilani again tried his luck on 29 minutes, this time with a header, but it just wasn’t the Italian’s day in front of goal as the ball ended up inches wide.

Carlos Mané tried a cheeky chip from the half-way line just before the break, but the Vilafranquense keeper managed to scramble back and tip over for a corner, before Bruno Paulista scored from a header after a cross from Aquilani to mark his first official start with a goal and take Sporting in 3-0 up at half-time.

The second-half saw Tanaka tally up his first outing of the season (on for William Carvalho) and Aquilani again trying to open his account and again off target. The game continued with one-way football from Sporting and Montero was next to fire towards goal with a shot smothered by Nélson Pinhão, before Gelson Martins burst into the area to latch on to a pass from Tanaka, only to be denied by the Vilafranquense keeper.

Wave after wave of Sporting attacks followed, with Montero and Gelson Martins both coming close, before Vilafranquense had their first real opportunity of the evening after a slip up by Jonathan Silva that saw Bernardo Carlos break into the box, but Marcelo Boeck was on hand to stomp out what was effectively the lower league’s side clearest chance of the encounter. There was little Vilafranquense could do but struggle on, while their goalkeeper continued his fantastic showing, denying Montero on 66 minutes and Ewerton on 70 minutes.

Montero blazed high after being picked out by João Pereira, before José Lúcio fired an effort towards Marcelo Boeck from range, with the shot eventually ending up wide. Gelson Martins rounded off the final score later on from inside the area, but the damage had effectively been done in the first-half and Sporting comfortably move on to the fourth round.

Sérgio Piscarreta to take charge of Portuguese Cup third round

Sérgio Piscarreta, 32, from the Algarve Football Association, will take charge of Sporting’s Portuguese Cup third round encounter with Vilafranquense.

Vilafranquense-Sporting will kick off at 17h30 on Saturday, in Estádio António Coimbra da Mota, Estoril.

Benfica-Sporting tickets snapped up

Sporting Clube de Portugal informs that the tickets available at the Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices for the derby have now solid out.

Benfica-Sporting will kick off at 17h00 on Sunday the 25th of October, in Estádio da Luz.