First place guaranteed | Sporting Clube de Portugal official website
Draw against SL Benfica at the close of the first phase (1-1)
With the qualification for a second phase already guaranteed, Sporting Clube de Portugal’s under-17 football team called, on Sunday, SL Benfica, and drew (1-1) in the 11th – and last – round of Serie D of the Echelon National Championship.
Thus, the young Lions of José João finished the first phase in first place, without any defeat and as the most finishing formation (53 scored) and also the least beaten (four suffered) of the series. In the derby, Vivaldo Semedo’s goal put the green and white emblem in front during the second half, but a red goal at the end of the game meant equalization at Estádio Aurélio Pereira.
Although the tie was enough for the Lions to secure first place, the green and white team was visible from an early age. Still within the first minute, Vivaldo Semedo was unable to beat Marcel Mendes, the incarnate keeper, in a promising one-on-one match, followed by Manuel Mendonçaou on top after a showy offensive combination. More capable with the ball, Sporting CP also successfully conditioned the opponent’s construction and imposed the game in the initial moments.
In a corner kick in the 12th minute, central Pedro Silva had everything to score, but the header from top to bottom ended up going slightly over the bar. There were successive Leoninas corrections, but SL Benfica rebalanced the match and began to spy on the attack: Miguel Constantinescu shot from outside the area to a tight defense by Guilherme Pires.
Before the half-hour of play, the eagles were forced to change goalkeepers, putting André Moreira in place of the injured Marcel Mendes. Annulment at several stops, the pace lowered and the null went to a second half, despite the great opportunity that João Muniz had for the Lions in the final moments.
As in the first half (61% -39%), Sporting CP controlled the ball on the restart, pushing SL Benfica into their defensive midfield. With the Lions balanced in attack, the newcomer Afonso Moreira still put the opponent’s goalkeeper to the test, but the 1-0 would come soon after. In a move of insistence, Vivaldo Semedo include inside the area, rotated and opened the scoring in the derby, choose his 11th goal, which highlighted him as the best scorer of the series.
However, despite the good defensive performance Leonina, SL Benfica responded in the last ten minutes. After a serious threat from Alamara Djabi stopped by Guilherme Pires, when eagles reached a tie by Kyanno Silva and the result would not change again until the final whistle. With this result, Sporting CP ended the first phase undefeated with 29 points, the same as SL Benfica, but a better goal difference gave the first place to the Lions.
Sporting CP: William Pires [GR], Leonardo Barroso, Pedro Silva, João Muniz, Rodrigo Dias (Carlos Santos 76′), Henrique Arreiol (Alexandre Brito 76′), Manuel Mendonça [C], Guilherme Santos (Mamadu Djaló 86′), Pedro Sanca (Adair Kandala 86′), Saná Fernandes (Afonso Moreira 57 ‘) and Vivaldo Semedo.