八字万年历

Chapter 274: Liga NOS 2020/21, Matchday 4

{The international break was over and the players had returned to their clubs for the professional leagues around the world to continue}

{Today is matchday 4 for the Porto team who will face Sporting CP here at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon}

{Porto have a lot to do if they are to redeem themselves after their last loss against Maritimo, but Sporting CP who currently stand at the top of the Liga NOS rankings will not make it easy for them}

{The players step on the green with full focus and the determination to win written all over their faces}

{As usual, Porto seem to be arranging themselves in their usual 4-4-2 formation that gives them enough control defensively and in the midfield, while also allowing them to quickly strike from all sides and overload the opponent’s penalty area when they are on the attack}

{The line-up for the Porto side features Augustin Marchesin in goal as usual}

{The team captain Pepe will be pairing up with Ivan Marcano in the defensive center while they will have Zaidu Sanusi and Wilson Manafa on the flanks}

{In the middle of the park, we have Otavio and Mattheus Uribe in the center hoping to control the midfield while supporting their teammates both offensively and defensively once the situation arises}

{On the wide sides of the midfield are Jesus Corona on the right and Luis Diaz on the left. They will play along with the two in the center to keep the ball moving while also making runs down the wing to supply the forwards when they can find some space}

{Speaking of forwards, Porto has a striking partnership between Sergio Oliveira and Moussa Marega and they will be hoping to get one or two past Sporting CP’s goalkeeper today}

{The Sporting CP’s line-up sees the return of a player that the Porto fans have been waiting eagerly for. Jason Bolu is back on the team, but the manager doesn’t seem to plan to risk starting him yet and he is on the bench}

{However, the Porto fans would be hoping to see him get some minutes in the second half as long as the manager’s gameplan concurs}

{The Sporting CP lineup is as follows…}The commentator went on to dictate the rest of the Sporting CP’s line-up. With the pre-match formalities over the game kicked off.

Sporting CP was the one that kicked off the game.

The game got off to a quick start with sporting CP beginning to pass the ball around while evading the Porto players and slowly moving the ball forward, advancing through the Porto midfield.

Porto didn’t just let them through but did their best to push them back, but Sporting CP did not give up and kept pushing forward and soon they found a chance.

Goncalves soon found Pedro Neto on the left side of Porto’s penalty box with a through ball.

Pedro Neto stepped past Wilson Manafa and sent a cross inside the penalty box, Santos leaped into the air, out-jumping everyone and getting his head to the ball first.

The ball flew to the right side of the post after bouncing off Santos’ head.

Augustin Marchesin dived after the ball, but couldn’t reach and the ball nestled into the back of the net.

{GOAL!!!}

{It’s sporting CP’s who score first!}

{Pass after pass, they broke down Porto’s defense and smashed one past the goalkeeper!}

{Porto are stunned! Things are already not looking good for them!} The commentator shouted in excitement as the sporting CP team went on to celebrate in joy at having scored first against a tough opponent like Porto.

The Porto fans could only watch in dismay as their team conceded a goal in less than ten minutes of the game.

They could only keep their fingers crossed and hope that their team could make a comeback later in the game.

The celebrations were soon over and the game resumed.

The minutes that ensued were rough for both sides. Almost as if they had chosen violence within the next fifteen minutes, three yellow cards were shown to players from both teams.

Goncalves was the first person to get a yellow card and he was shown a yellow card by the referee just two minutes after his team went in the lead.

This was because the Porto team had reacted quickly and vigorously as they tried to get an equalizer after conceding so quickly but sporting CP wasn’t planning to allow them and they reacted quickly.

Gonalves soon brought Diaz down when he tried to dribble past him.

A freekick was played and the game continued, but with fouls from the sporting CP side becoming more frequent, the Porto team quickly became impatient and started returning the violent challenges in kind.

Jesus Corona and Zaidu Sanusi soon got yellow cards as well in the 19th and 20th minutes respectively.

Despite the match getting rougher the Porto team did not lose sight of the goal, which was to equalise as quickly as possible.

Soon, the chance to do so arrived for them, with sporting CP making a mistake and losing the ball in the final third of the field.

Otavio quickly snatched the ball and took off down the field as fast as he could, before long he sent a through pass down the left wing towards Luis Diaz, who took control of the ball with a smooth flick of his foot.

Stepping over the ball a few times to trick his marker before suddenly darting towards the left and sending a cross into the penalty box of the sporting CP team.

The ball rose over every one and flew towards the middle of the box where Sergio Oliveira awaited with his body poised to jump.

As soon as the ball reached him he caught it off his head and sent it flying towards the right side of the goal, but the sporting CP goalkeeper reacted quickly and lunged for the ball, managing to get the tip of his fingers to it and deflected the ball.

*CLANG!!!*

The ball smashed off the right post and bounced back into play but before it could move further than a few metres, Jesus Corona appeared behind the ball and smashed it back into the net.

{GOAL!!!}

{Just 15 minutes after going behind the have equalised!}

{The keeper got to it the first time but couldn’t react when it was rebounded back into the back of the net by the Porto man}

{They are back on equal terms!}