By Melody Gross 
In the 12th round match of the league, Sporting came from a series of three matches without a win – a draw, in the Champions, with Tottenham (1-1), a defeat, for the championship, in Arauca (0-1) and another defeat, again in the Champions League , with Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2) – triumph again, in Ruben Amorim’s 100th league game, defeating Vitoria de Guimarães at home.
With this result, the Lions rise to fourth (22 points) and outpace their hometown team, which climbed to fifth in the previous round and left Alvalade in sixth. Casa Bella (Sporting’s last victory, in round 10, 3-1, at home, on October 22), who has 20 points, will play tomorrow, Sunday, in Braga (6pm), and if the Warriors win, they take the title right after that. behind the podium.
Despite the negative sequence of results, Sporting started well, determined, confident, to create several dangerous situations, so it seemed that the Lions’ target had been reduced, only, to a matter of time, to more, at 26′, Afonso Freitas. He saw a second yellow card and a subsequent red card, which reduced Vitoria’s unit count to ten.
The score came 1-0 to 34 minutes through Marcus Edwards – off the bench, replacing Nazinho the previous minute – who, on his way to Pedro Buro’s header, converted the ball and bluffed Bruno Varela. In the 40th minute, it was Morita’s turn, the English man’s cross, appeared loosely in the back of the defense, and hit the net.
In addition to the whistle at the end of the first half, Morita was also strongly opposed by V. Guimarães, who requested a second yellow card for the Japanese after a challenge from behind on Andre. At the end of the first half, Ruben Amorim left the Japanese player in the locker room and released Rochenha.
The second part did not present any change in the general scenario. Sporting continued to lead and reached, unsurprisingly, the third goal, via Marcus Edwards (55), relying on a valuable deflection in Bamba’s header who, when trying to cut the ball, betrayed Bruno Varela: the goalkeeper flew towards the original shot, to the left side But the ball went in the opposite direction.
To the end, the Lions still invaded, more than once, the Victorian area, and came to celebrate with a score of 4-0, by Paulinho (89′), with a beautiful artistic gesture, he turned and fired hard, with his left foot, however, the striker was in an offside position determined by VAR, about half a meter ahead of the last Victorian unit or, more specifically, 43 cm.
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