Sporting had already used three different jerseys this season: the traditional one, with the green-and-white horizontal stripes, the golden CR7 one and the white one. He won with all of them. This Monday, the “lion” changed his skin, to a completely black kit (shirt, shorts and socks), but the identity was the same and so was the result, with a 0-2 triumph in Minho over Moreirense in the game that closed the 22nd round of the Portuguese league. Sporting once again joined Benfica at the top of the championship (both have 55 points), with one game still to be played in Famalicão – which does not yet have a date.
It wasn’t as exuberant a victory as the ones he achieved last month, but it was confident and certain throughout the race against a Moreirense team that has been a good surprise in this championship – 6th place – and that tends to make life difficult to visitors. The “lions” were not just superior, they were much superior, even if the difference in score suggests a greater balance. How many shots did Moreirense make in the entire game? A handful. And only the last one, in the last minute, came close to Adán’s goal. And Sporting? Made two dozen. And he only scored two goals.
Sporting were in a hurry to reach the goal and it didn’t take long after Fábio Veríssimo’s opening whistle. Just over two minutes had passed when the “lions” took the lead with a goal that was difficult to define. From a corner by Trincão on the right, the ball flew into the small area – goalkeeper Kewin hesitated when approaching the ball – and landed in the middle of a territorial dispute between Morita and Frimpong. The goal would end up being awarded to the Japanese midfielder (his second of the season), after also hitting Moreirense’s Dutch full-back.
After their quickest goal of the season in the championship, Rúben Amorim’s team went looking for more and had multiple opportunities to do so. Kewin delayed it as best he could, but the goal ended up appearing in the 23rd minute. Geny was requested on the right flank, played with Trincão and the former Barcelona player played for Pedro Gonçalves. From his right foot, the ball went into the goal – 13th goal of the season, eighth in the championship.
How did Moreirense respond to the two goals conceded with less than a third of the game completed? There was a corner in the 38th minute and an inconsequential shot at the same time. His best element was his goalkeeper, who wasn’t particularly inspired, but prevented a more uneven result during the first half. The game changed a little in the second half, in the sense that Moreirense managed, not to balance, but to reduce the imbalance. And the “lions” helped, less active in the search for another robustness in the result.
Rui Borges may not have liked what he saw in the first half, but he would have liked to see his Moreirense team not surrender to the rout. And Amorim, certainly pleased with the dynamics and effectiveness in the first minutes, does not usually like drops in intensity in the second parts. But the essentials were done. Victory, the eighth consecutive in the championship, points, goals and shared first place. And it wasn’t even necessary for Viktor Gyökeres (the first reference to the Swede in this chronicle) to take the lead. He left that role to others.