I'm also very curious to see how they will perform tonight.

Win-win situation for me... either I bag some money, or my good friend Ana can celebrate her team's win.

 

yeh yeh

 

thanks Nacho...I wasn't even aware they were playing today.

 

Benfica's starting line up:


Júlio César

Nelson Semedo,Lisandro López,Jardel,Sílvio

Samaris,Fejsa

Ola John,Gaitán, Talisca

Jonas


Bench: Ederson,André Almeida,Eliseu,Gonçalo Guedes, Pizzi
Jonathan Rodriguez,Mitroglou

 

The match is delayed?

never mind.

 

Reading the live commentary, Sporting making the early play thus far.

 

Nothing happening the last few minutes.

 

"Some great controlled play and passing in the middle of the pitch from Sporting." Oh, I like, I like

 

Ana's gonna ban me after this match.

 

naaahhh...even your biased comments are welcomed = activity


very exciting game really, sporting was on drugs when starting the game, running like crazy chickens ( who's the bird here?) and had the edge for a while but then we balanced it out and could have scored a couple times

goal chances for both teams, and on that regard either could be winning

i think theres a wrongly disallowed goal for sporting, but i had to watch it twice to be more or less certain of it...also in a dangerous counter attack ola john was wrongly called offside....it happens

i dont expect the teams to run so much during the 2nd half...i doubt they can, specially with this heat


sporting has issues defending, but is overcoming us in the midfield, we need to sub in pizzi and have talisca out, jonas is too lonely upfront, and we are having a hardtime holding the ball in the midfield


good performances from our defense, specially lisandro lopez, but jardel has actually saved us from suffering a goal

ola john has been a surprise he's doing quite well, and jonas , as usual, working a lot and could have already scored twice


lets hope this 2nd half we can improve our defense - attack transition and score a winning goal :thmbup:

 

Julio Cesar making a couple good interceptions early on for Benfica.

 

Carillo and Joao Mario are apparently proving themselves to be serial pests to Benfica's defense.

 

First time I hear about Benfica in an offensive sense with Jonas latching on to a beautiful cross, but his header is inaccurate.

 

Slimani is booked for a rough tackle.

Meanwhile Julio Cesar makes yet enough interception

 

Low volley from mid range by Adrien, astonishing save by Julio Cesar!!

 

Jonas seems the most likely for Benfica thus far, with his headers. He leaps from the corner kick, the ball narrowly flies past on this occasion.

 

Seems like an entertaining game. Sporting with a series of corner kicks now, applying pressure on Benfica.

 

Goal disallowed? alm:

 

Ah screw this commentary, everyone's watching the game anyway.

 

clear penalty from carillo over gaitan now so...no more complaints about the ref from sporting tonight

 

very good game, well played, exciting, sporting was the better team overall and deserved it , congrats to them

we are however better than i thought we were, after the results from our friendlies and i was very glad to see a couple players tonight (lisando, awesome game, nelson semedo looking good, ola john had one of his best games with us) , not to mention that is refreshing seeing 4 ( four ) portuguese players at the same time...i think i hadnt seen it in....6 years?

we need of coz a couple players yet, the team lacks depth, and obviously more playing time, but it was clear tonight that some players clearly deserve to be in the starting line up, while others dont...pizzi over talisca was very obvious


ps: jeff.....you're doomed :lala:

 

I can send you some of my winnings if you want p

 

nah im fine

 

Tactics still confusing - there doesn't seem to be a clear unified goal, only when in response to Sporting's goal did they look like a collective, and that's more because the players simply resorted to basic, reactionary tactics. The 4-2-3-1 should have seen much more of the ball.

Pizzi should have started - he's grown to be very reliable as the offensive QB. He's really come a long way.

 

Pizzi should have started - he's grown to be very reliable as the offensive QB. He's really come a long way.

I'm open to him starting because they don't have a clear superior, but I still see him as below par. He's not an elite attacker.

 

I had to entertain visiting friends. Sounds like I missed a good one. Hope that the match gets replayed during the week. Credit to Sporting for winning the game. The clear focus has to be on upping the offensive production. They were shutout in 3 out of 5 matches in the preseason. Just 3 goals total. Shots were close in the Super Taca, but Sporting had a clear advantage in corners (7-3). Have to create chances to score goals. They'll be forced to grind out results otherwise.

 

We miss Lima, not because he was a prolific scorer, but because of his final pass was outstanding.

 

Has Adel Taarabt played yet for us ? I am both excited to see him play for us yet also scared because of his attitude

 

Yes, but not a whole lot to talk about. Any semblance of an attack has been lacking in pre-season.