Filipe Amorim / Lusa
Sporting returned to the lead of the championship, after win the Lisbon classic, against Benfica. 1-0 was the final result in Alvalade. Geny Catamo once again became the tormentor of the eagles – who thus fall to third place.
O Sporting seems to have been reborn from the “ashes” of recent weeks, he played a competent game in the classic against Benfica and won by 1-0de Geny’s goal Catamowho seems to have gained a taste for scoring against the “eagles”.
Rui Borges changed the tactical system for a line of four defenders and reaped the rewards of the bet, winning on his debut with the Alvalade team, in a great game, and placing his team at the top of the Primeira Liga table.
This was also the Bruno Lage’s first defeat in the League since his return.
Lion comes in better, Eagle ends up pressing
Intense derby in Alvalade, not always well played, but with more Sporting, intense and putting pressure on Benfica’s first phase of construction with discretion, preventing the “reds” from playing their usual passing game in deep areas to “call” their opponent .
The best chances belonged to the “lion”, who saw Trubin deny Quenda the goal in the 17th minute, on a blatant occasion with a 38% chance of scoring (xG).
Only to 29 minutesthe Ukrainian could do nothing to stop the shot from Catamothe passe de Yökeres, para p single goal of the game.
⏱️ BREAK | Sporting 1 – 0 Benfica
Top from part 1:
🥇 Geny Catamo 🇲🇿 6.8 ⚽️ 🔝
🥈 Trincão 🇵🇹 6.6
🥉 Root 🇸🇪 6.5 🎁
– – –
🚨 Tomás Araújo 🇵🇹 4.5— GoalPoint (@_Goalpoint)
In the second half, Lage removed Florentino and threw in Leandro Barreiro and Benfica took over the game, possession and the attacking initiative, creating several dangerous situations, especially through Amdouni, in the 61st minute.
Sporting took advantage of Benfica’s balance to launch long balls forward, focusing on Gyökeres, a scenario that allowed tense and exciting final minutes.
However, the victory no longer eluded the “lion”, who imposed his first defeat in the championship on Bruno Lage and ensured the triumph in Rui Borges’ debut on the leonine bench.
The Game in 5 Facts
1. “Eagle” with more area
Sporting won and dominated in the first half, but the statistical data shows a lot of Benfica’s reaction in the second half, after giving “a half lead”. Therefore, it is not surprising that the men from Luz ended up with more actions with the ball in the Leo area (34) than those from the home team at the other end of the field (23). But there is more…
2. Leo record for reliefs
This Benfica pressure forced Sporting to remove the danger from the area as best they could, ending the game with 32 clearances, a Sporting record, when the previous maximum was 21.
3. Comfortable Sporting without the ball
This is one of the facts that comes out of this game, Sporting’s competence without the ball, in the face of Benfica’s dominance in the complementary stage. This was the League game in which the “lions” had less possession of the ball (47%), fewer actions with the ball (606), fewer passes (371) and fewer completed passes (315).
4. Low pressure game
Despite Benfica’s superior number of defensive actions in the opponent’s midfield compared to Sporting (12-7), the truth is that these are relatively low numbers for this variable, so it is safe to say that the two teams did not consistently bet on pressure in advanced lands.
5. Poor quality of the “eagle” in the shot
Benfica finished with two more shots than Sporting (14 to 12), but the truth is that, when they finished, they showed little quality, finishing with just two shots taken, against six from the “lion”. The explanation for the final result was also here.
Best of the Field
After a discreet first half, largely due to the little ball he had, Orkun Kökçü benefited from Benfica’s different approach in the second half and increased its production a lot, finishing with the best GoalPoint Rating of the night: 7,7.
The Turk created a blatant opportunity with two finishing passes, added 13 progressive passes, the maximum in the derby, recovered possession of the ball ten times, also the highest value, and made five tackles, something that is surprising given that the midfielder has a reputation for not defending. .
⭐️MVP GOALPOINT | Sporting 1 – 0 Benfica
◉ The eagle fell but not Kökçü, the favorite dividing opinion among Luz fans. The Turk had already starred in SLB’s only brilliant move in the first half (direct free kick) and in the second half he was the engine of the reaction…
— GoalPoint (@_Goalpoint)
Summary
