Sporting Steal Early Advantage In Portuguese Title Race

Sporting CP continued their perfect start to the Liga Portugal season with a 2-0 victory over FC Porto at the José Alvalade Stadium on Saturday.

Manager Rúben Amorim made just one change to his starting lineup, bringing Morten Hjulmand back in for Daniel Bragança. The Lions dominated proceedings, creating numerous chances and sealing the win with late goals from Viktor Gyökeres and Geny Catamo.

The match also marked the debut of the stadium’s new lighting system. It began with a minute’s silence in honour of the GNR emergency team members who tragically died in a helicopter accident on the Douro River, as well as the late football coach Sven-Göran Eriksson.

The opening stages of the second “Clássico” of the season, played in front of a sold-out crowd, were cautious, with both teams closely matched and struggling to find space in each other’s defences. Porto had the first real chance after 15 minutes when Vasco Sousa’s shot tested Sporting’s resolve, but the home side quickly responded. Pedro Gonçalves set up Francisco Trincão, whose effort was denied by Zé Pedro.

As the first half progressed, Sporting began to assert their dominance, winning midfield battles and controlling the game’s flow. Porto offered little in return, with only a single attempt from Galeno, which was comfortably dealt with by goalkeeper Kovačević. Despite several promising opportunities—Gyökeres hit the side netting, and Trincão missed two chances in prime positions—Sporting were unable to break the deadlock before the interval, leaving the scoreline at 0-0.

Gyökeres nearly scored early in the second half, only for his shot to be cleared off the line by Alan Varela. Porto briefly rallied, with Galeno’s shot forcing a save from Kovačević, but it was Sporting who finally found the breakthrough in the 72nd minute. Gyökeres won a penalty, which he calmly converted to give Sporting a deserved lead.

As Porto pushed forward in search of an equaliser, they struggled to create any significant chances to trouble Kovačević. Sporting, however, remained dangerous on the counter, and in the third minute of stoppage time, Geny Catamo sealed the victory with a superb strike to make it 2-0.

With the international break now looming, Sporting will next be in action on 13 September, when they travel to face FC Arouca.