Sporting CP currently sits first in the Portuguese Primeira Liga with 41 points, despite a thrilling 4-4 draw against Vitória Sport Clube.
Defending champions Sporting Clube de Portugal recorded their second draw of the season in the top flight of Portuguese Football.
Sporting CP’s first draw under Rui Borges saw the two teams finish with four goals each in a match counting for the 16th day of the Portuguese championship.
The Lions’ goals were scored by Swedish striker Viktor Gyökeres, who scored a hat-trick, and Portuguese striker Francisco Trincão. The home team’s goals were scored by Portuguese players Tiago Silva and João Mendes, as well as Brazilian Kaio César and Canadian Dieu-Merci Michel.
This draw allows Sporting CP to maintain its leading position in the standings, with one point ahead of FC Porto and three points ahead of SL Benfica.
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If Benfica wins, he could join Sporting at the top of the I Liga
Note that this was only Rui Borges’ second match at the head of Sporting CP. After a narrow 1-0 victory against SL Benfica, the team, now managed by Borges, drew against Vitória de Guimarães (4-4) in a meeting where the Portuguese coach faced his former team. A meeting which ended without a winner.
In statements collected by the Lusa agency, Rui Borges expressed his disappointment with the team’s performance in the second half, but he remained confident for the matches to come: “A team that wants to be first cannot lead 3-1 and let that turn into 4-3, no matter how good Vitória is We lost two points At home, all we want is to win, and we are doing everything to achieve it. impossible to say that we are happy with it only one point. Vitória deserves praise for its progress, but we were too passive We must continue our way, without doubt, both from ourselves and from our players and our supporters. The next match is against. FC Porto (note: League Cup), which is another competitive match that feels like a final, and we have to be ready. We weren’t the ‘best in the world’ against Benfica last week, and now we are. we’re not the worst,” underlined Rui Borges.
Match Postponed for FC Porto
FC Porto’s match against Nacional started in Madeira but was interrupted due to fog.
As in their meeting against SL Benfica, Nacional had to postpone their match against Porto due to weather conditions.
The meeting will resume on January 15. If FC Porto wins, they could surpass Sporting Clube de Portugal. The Dragons currently sit on 40 points, just one point behind Sporting CP.
In addition, SL Benfica will host Sporting de Braga this Saturday, January 4, at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon.
If the Eagles win, they will be able to equal Sporting CP at the top of the provisional Liga Portuguesa standings before the meeting between Nacional and FC Porto.
The eighteenth day of the Portuguese men’s football championship will take place between January 17 and 20, 2025.