the Sporting celebrated their trip to Austria with a 0-2 win over Sturm Graz, in the third round of the Champions League. A draw against PSV Eindhoven at the start of the month ended and the Lions finished the day in third place in the group – albeit provisionally.
Ruben Amorim showed his courage once again, especially when it came to choosing the starting lineup. He decided to release Ricardo Esgayo so that, according to him, he could have a line of four in defense, and later in the match, even before the final pressure exerted by the Austrian team, he released Pedro Gonçalves and Saint-Just, both coming from injury.
It ended up being that Sporting deserved the two goals scored at the start of the two halves, an advantage maintained by their high level of ball possession, which, however, did not translate into scoring opportunities.
In the end, especially in the last 15 minutes, the Lions were surprised several times and only suffered because Sturm Graz lacked quality (and some luck).
So let's look at the notes:
appearance
The goal was just the “cherry” on top of his very good performance Nuno Santos. The full-back was responsible for occupying the entire wing, and when asked to attack, he was always a threat. He did end up scoring the first goal with some luck, given Gyokeris' failure, but his position at the end only serves to show how far he ran during his time on the pitch.
a surprise
Zeno Debast It conveyed security, but it also seemed, at times, unbalanced. Most notable was his contribution to the second goal, where, after coming out with the ball to face two opponents, he was able to launch Gyokeris on the counterattack with his left foot.
disillusionment
Amorim is betting on Maxi Araujo As a winger, the Uruguayan could have made better use of the fact that Pedro Gonçalves has not yet recovered. When he had the ball, Maxi didn't 'get' it, and although he did get it, more was expected of him.
Trainers
Christian Elzer
Sturm Graz continues to score no goals in the Champions League, despite being one of the less quarrelsome teams in this competition. It will be difficult for the Austrians to take anything away from the Millionaire's League.
Robin Amorim
It was a night filled with many risky decisions for Leo's coach. But the courage did not translate into great success, especially since Ricardo Esgayo was not brilliant and the arrival of Pedro Gonçalves and Sant Juste coincided with Sporting's most pressing moment. In the end, what matters is getting the three points.
arbitrator
It was not a difficult match for him Giorgi Krushvili The most prominent moment for the Georgian was when Katamu fell in the 66th minute inside the area due to an assumed error by Gazibegovic. After reviewing the images on VAR, the referee ordered the match to continue, and contrary to what may seem at first glance, this was actually the correct decision.
Read also: Amorim “moves and shakes” and Sporting returns to the path of victories in the Champions League
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