Good Week? I do think so. :: 25ª jornada Sporting/V. Guimarães, Porto/Académica, Benfica/V. Setúbal
"Lets celebrate in front of the camera! then everyone can see us celebrate!" <--smart guys.
You know I do always plan to do these the day of the match...however, like always photos never surface the same day (unless it's a Sporting match) and sometimes they never surface (see Benfica) and so I don't want to do the recap without any visuals. Anyway At least Porto has a 13 or so pictures to go along with the 31 of Sporting I'm posting here. Last week's matches were interesting, I can't say that I was let down. Sporting's match was what I pretty much expect from them; they start off looking a bit shaky and vulnerable and play a somewhat horrible first half, upon which the other team usually scores at the end of the first half or soon after the second half has begun (Roberto's goal for VG @ the 56'). However, I've come to realize that when they concede that one goal they always come back to score two goals at the very end of the match that leaves me with this shocked face and wondering how the other team can blow the match at the end. Either way Derlei and Liedson are important players for Sporting most definitely as they seem to be the ones consistently scoring the goals. Liedson is amazing and honestly I think that no team will be able to count Sporting out so long as Liedson is on the pitch. Also Paulo Bento was thrown out of the match in the second half for doing what he does best, arguing with the official. He was back at the end of the match to celebrate with his players who obviously were excited about coming within one point of my boys Porto, at the top.
However, because Sporting played before Porto and Benfica their scrapping together of three points helped (as points are crucial at this stage in the game) but didn't bother Porto too much as we were able to play an exceptional match against Académica and gained another three points to push them back four points on top. Porto was playing a HORRIBLE first half, like I can't even explain to you the comments that I left behind (which were quite amusing now that I'm referencing them since it's been a whole week almost since the match). Our passing was horrible and I was hoping for a Jesualdo massacre of the squad during halftime, luckily for them the second half started off with a bang. Thanks to a wonderful free kick from Raul, Rolando scored the first goal of the game, only to be shortly followed by Lisandro who scored quickly after. After scoring two goals so quickly Academica's keeper (who I've grown some love for) was throwing a fit and was yelling at his players who seemed to be losing their organization. Towards the end of the match Jose and Jesualdo were conspiring together on the sideline so I knew that someone was about to come off, I didn't realize they were doing a double sub though which ended with Lisandro and Raul off and Ernesto and Tarik on. There was three minutes added when we had the scare of the night when Helton went down unexpectedly and was complaining about what appeared to be a lack of air. Luckily, he was back up and with about less than a minute left in the match Mariano, who is a beast, scored at 90+4 right before the whistle. If Sporting thought they were the only club that could end a match at the very end, obviously they hadn't seen the wrath that Porto was ready to unleash.
Benfica had an equally interesting night as they gained crucial points also after a 4-nil thrashing of V. Setúbal. All I can say about Benfica's match is wow, honestly I wasn't expecting the result and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised. Nuno Gomes & Oscar Cardozo both scored two goals a piece and Rui Costa at one point had jumped up and ran to hug Oscar which was beyond precious. I wish there were visual aids to show but the match was amazing for Benfica, obviously a horror story for Setúbal. All in all I'm happy to see Nuno playing again. Either way I'm done rambling.
V. GUIMARÃES-SPORTING, 1-2 (Roberto 56'; Derlei 81' e Liedson 89')
Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, em Guimarães
Hora: 21.00
Árbitro: Bruno Paixão (Setúbal), auxiliado por António Godinho e Paulo Ramos
EQUIPAS OFICIAIS
V. GUIMARÃES
Nilson; Andrezinho, Gregory, Moreno e Milhazes; Flávio Meireles, Desmarets, João Alves; Marquinho, Nuno Assis e Roberto.
Suplentes: Nuno Santos, Sereno, Custódio, Carlitos, Santana, Fajardo e Luís Filipe.
Treinador: Manuel Cajuda
SPORTING
Rui Patrício; Caneira, Polga, Carriço e Pedro Silva; Miguel Veloso, João Moutinho e Adrien; Pereirinha, Liedson e Derlei.
Suplentes: R.Batista, Ronny, Tonel, Tiuí, Postiga, Romagnoli e Abel.
Treinador: Paulo Bento
ACADÉMICA-FC PORTO, 0-3 (Rolando 57', Lisandro 60' g.p. e Mariano 90'+5)
Estádio Cidade de Coimbra
Hora: 18.00
Árbitro: Olegário Benquerença (Leiria)
EQUIPAS OFICIAIS
ACADÉMICA
Peskovic; Pedrinho, Amoreirinha, Orlando e Pedro Costa; Cris, Nuno Piloto e Tiero; Lito, Saleiro e Miguel Pedro.
Suplentes: Rui Nereu, Berger, Madej, Licá, André Fontes, Eder e Diogo Gomes.
Treinador: Domingos Paciência
FC PORTO
Helton; Sapunaru, Rolando, Bruno Alves e Cissokho; Fernando e Raul Meireles; Mariano, Hulk, Lisandro e Rodríguez.
Suplentes: Nuno, Farías, Guarín, Pedro Emanuel, Stepanov, Tarik e Tomás Costa.
Treinador: Jesualdo Ferreira
V. SETÚBAL-BENFICA, 0-4 (Nuno Gomes 26' e 71', Cardozo 28', 45'+2)
Estádio do Bonfim
Árbitro: Soares Dias (Porto)
Equipas oficiais
V. SETÚBAL: Kieszek; Janício, Robson, Auri e Michel; Hugo, Elias, Ricardo Chaves e Leandro Lima; Bruno Gama e Regula
Suplentes: Milojevic, Brigues, Anderson, Laionel, Joeano, Carrijo e Moisés
Treinador: Carlos Cardoso
BENFICA: Quim; Maxi Pereira, Sidnei, Miguel Vítor e David Luiz; Ruben Amorim, Carlos Martins e Aimar; Nuno Gomes, Cardozo e Reyes
Suplentes: Moreira, Katsouranis, Jorge Ribeiro, Yebda, Di maria, Urreta e Mantorras
Treinador: Quique Flores
&& no photos of Benfica again because idk why, it was hard finding Porto photos too.