Sporting keeps alive in the fight for a place in next season’s Champions League. Saturday, the 2nd of March, for the 24th round of the Portuguese Champions, the club from Lisboa welcomed Portimonense and won by 3-1, with goals of Diaby and Raphinha, in less than two minutes. Aylton made the only goal of the visitors, still in the first half.

The beginning of the match was the best possible for Sporting. The team from the capital opened the scorer as soon as the 9th minute arrived. After a corner by Bruno Fernandes, the striker Diaby was able to send a header to the net and made it 1-0 to the home side. The ball still touched the post before entering.

The fans didn’t even have time to fully celebrate that first goal, once Sporting only took another minute to score the second. Raphinha received a good pass from Bruno Fernandes, entered on the area and gave a straight shot, even without a good angle, to make the 2-0.

With 2 goals down, Portimonense had to attack and it was that what they did. With a lot of pressure, they were able to get their goal. At the 29th minute, after stealing the ball in the attack, Paulinho made a good play with Aylton, who gave a low shot, didn’t giving chances to goalkeeper Renan Ribeiro.

Trying to avoid problems during the second half, Sporting came back with an aggressive posture and created some good chances. The third goal, however, just appeared on the extra time. Aylton – the one who scored the only goal of Portimonense – brought Bruno Fernandes down on the box. Penalty to the home side. The same Bruno Fernandes, that gave the assists for the two other goals, was the one who got the ball and scored, closing the scorer as 3-1.

The home victory was very important for what Sporting wants this season. The capital team is now with 49 points and remains in the fourth position of the Portuguese Championship, 11 points behind Benfica, who is now the current leader. Portimonense remains with 28 points and in the 10th position.