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It is the engine room of any eleven worth its salt, football fans will say without blinking. The midfield is the nerve center of the action on the field and is where the cog wheels that guide the rhythm of the team and often give it character are set in motion. In Rúben Amorim’s 3-4-3, João Palhinha and João Mário are almost always the first to play this pendulum role and are usually distinguished by the sobriety with which they do it. Today, the midfielders made in Alvalade of different generations distinguished himself by the goals he scored in Sporting’s 2-0 victory against Paços de Ferreira and which brings Sporting closer to celebrating the title that has eluded them since 2002.
Another trip, another victory, the distance to increase and the dream to get closer. Now with a difference of two digits for the closest ones, due to the lack of a better expression. In five games, Sporting won five, launched the best series of the season and saw the gap for second place, held by FC Porto, increase from four to ten points, while Sporting de Braga and Benfica are at 11 and 13, respectively. It is an advantage that has never been surpassed at this stage of the championship and that puts the lions in an enviable position that they do not seem willing to give up.
Still undefeated at the end of matchday 19, Sporting continued to take advantage of the mistakes of their main rivals and the victory over Paços do Ferreira came with a remarkable degree of ease. Which says a lot about León’s solidity against one of the great sensations of the championship. Pepa’s team arrived in Alvalade with the possibility of matching Vitória Sport Clube in fifth position and without hiding the ambition to win in the field of leaders.
Only this Sporting rarely makes it easy for opponents. Even without being dazzled, solidity is the watchword of the Leon team that always keeps the machine in tune when changing parts. It happened with the entries of Tiago Tomás, Gonçalo Inácio and João Mário for an eleven in which Paulinho won the title. The transfer signing is still looking for his first goal with the lions shirt and the use of “still” revelation for the result of another match (the seventh in a row between Braga and Sporting) without winning, but in which they had the first dangerous situation of the entire match. Good participation on the left with the ball flowing with quality for the players until Pedro Gonçalves took a cross for Paulinho’s heel, whose shot collided with the defense on Jordi’s instinct.
Ten minutes passed and the first good note of a game in which if balance was the apparent note, it seemed more spoiled by Sporting, than before the position of Badajoz, it tried to put balls on the back of the defense. This happened in the 20th minute, when Feddal, like Beckenbauer, took the ball, looked and took a very long and very accurate pass for Pedro Gonçalves to clear the area and for the immediate cut in the absence of Rebocho. The full-back missed the approach and the referee did not hesitate to point out the penalty spot. The responsibility fell on João Mário, and the midfielder on loan from Inter Milan did not hesitate. Ball to one side, goalkeeper to the other and Sporting advantage.
Lab straw
The tendency of consented balance was accentuated after the goal and it was only closer to the interval that a marked danger emerged again near the two goals. First, in the 42nd minute, when after a good collective move, Rebocho crossed the finish line at the entrance of Luther Singh’s area to the figure of Adam, who defended with confidence and showed, once again, the success of the lions in his signing. The defense guaranteed the greens and whites to finish the first half with an advantage, which was not greater because Coates could not hit the target after a series of balls exchanged heads inside the rival area.
It was not that play, it was right at the beginning of the game and the result of a play designed on paper and square in the training field, the kind that always make coaches proud. Right corner, and astute deflection of Feddal (again him) to the left where the other midfielder, Palhinha, appeared loose from the mark and shooting with his right foot at an angle for a great goal that left the lions even safer on the field and Paços contemplate an increasingly difficult task.
Perfectly comfortable in the game, Sporting took advantage of the 2-0 to manage the rhythm of the game at ease and to show, if more evidence was needed, that it is an excellent team to manage spaces and with a defensive line at a very high level . Without consenting to the vealities, the lions let the minutes run, before an opponent who was having a ball but who was missing to give more precision to possession. Which, let’s face it, was very difficult in the face of opposition.
In addition to a (very) strong shot from Douglas Tanque to the lateral net, the opportunities were scarce and it was not surprising that the game reached the 90th minute with the victory of Sporting 2-0 and another stage completed towards a title that ‘ not a candidate ‘, to maintain this solidity, you run the risk of winning. Now with a pillow in his ten.
