Sporting came from behind to beat Gil Vicente in Lisbon tonight and return to the top of the table, leapfrogging city rivals Benfica.
The visitors shocked the Alvalade crowd by taking the lead in the 34th minute through a Rúben Fernandes header from a free kick, but Nuno Santos’s fierce shot was deflected into his own net by Pedro Tiba for the equaliser just before the break.
The hosts ran out convincing winners in the second half thanks to a brace from man-of-the-match Viktor Gyökeres. The irrepressible Swedish striker had the ball in the net twice more on the night, only to be denied by narrow offside calls and came close to his hat-trick on several occasions.
The match was preceded by a short ceremony paying tribute to Sporting captain Sebastián Coates, who in making his 344th appearance in the green and white set a new record as the non-Portuguese player with the most games for the Lisbon club.
In the knowledge that three points would recover top spot one round after losing the leadership of the Primeira Liga in the dramatic Lisbon derby defeat to Benfica, Sporting began strongly with only a brilliant saving tackle by Félix Correia preventing Hidemasa Morita from putting the Lions ahead in the 2nd minute.
On 9 minutes Sporting had the ball in the net, Gyökeres finishing neatly from an excellent Marcus Edwards pass, but the goal was pulled back by VAR for a narrow offside against the Swede.
Gil weathered the early storm and began to look more comfortable, but it was still a surprise when the visitors took the lead in the 34th minute. Murilo Souza swung over a well delivered free kick from the right flank, with captain Rúben Fernandes timing his run perfectly to beat Gyökeres in the air and head powerfully into the net. Again there was a lengthy VAR check for offside, but this time the goal stood.
Sporting were not behind for long however. Gil were unable to clear the ball after a heavy spell of pressure from the home team, Nuno Santos slamming a volley towards goal from the edge of the box and the ball finding its way into the net thanks to a deflection off the unfortunate Pedro Tiba.
Rúben Amorim made three changes at the break, Matheus Reis and Geny Catamo replacing Nuno Santos and Ricardo Esgaio in the wing-back positions, with Jeremiah St. Juste coming on for Gonçalo Inácio.
Sporting were now playing with a renewed sense of urgency, the electric Edwards denied by an instinctive save from Andrew shortly after the restart.
In the 52nd minute Sporting took the lead, Viktor Gyökeres instinctively hitting a loose ball home after an initial cross had been too high for him but the visiting defence had failed to clear.
Gil Vicente’s players were furious that a supposed foul by Gyökeres had not been awarded just before he scored, and there was yet another tense wait as VAR advised the referee to check on the pitch-side monitor. The official stuck to his initial decision and the goal stood.
The one-goal advantage soon became two as Gyökeres was on the end of a high-speed break beautifully orchestrated by Edwards and Pote to make it 3-1 to Sporting.
Pedro Tiba and Félix Correia tried their luck from range as Gil threw more men forward. Midway through the second half the injury-prone St. Juste was forced off the pitch after picking up a knock, replaced by Eduardo Quaresma.
A big feature of Viktor Gyökeres’s game is his indefatigable energy, and the striker again showed that facet of his armoury as he was unlucky not to complete his hat-trick. He thought he had scored in the 69th minute after racing clear and slotting into the net from a Marcus Edwards pass, only to be denied by another tight offside call.
Twice more he came close, first with a thunderous shot from outside the box that whistled just wide, then from a toe-poke on the run that goalkeeper Andrew did well to turn away for a corner with a sharp reaction save. It mattered not as Sporting clocked up a 7th win from 7 home matches in the Liga Portugal Betclic 2023/24.
Sporting fans love Viktor Gyökeres and he's loving it in Lisbon. My fear for Sporting is this is going so well it won't last. Wouldn't be surprised to see the Swedish striker sold for at least triple the fee Sporting paid for him (€24m) after just one season. Hope I'm wrong. https://t.co/Bgxz9XgD1Y
— Tom Kundert (@PortuGoal1) December 5, 2023
“We’re back in first place, but it seems obvious to me that the championship race will have lots of stories to unfold yet,” said Sporting coach Amorim after the full-time whistle. “We’ll take it step by step, we’ve said what our goal is, but there’s no point looking too far ahead. We need to think about the next game.”
By Tom Kundert, at the Estádio José Alvalade
