Sporting Vs Estoril Praia: Suárez Double Seals 3-0 Win as Lisbon Side Hold Second
sporting vs estoril praia produced a decisive evening at the Estádio José Alvalade, where Sporting secured a 3-0 victory that leaves them second in Liga Portugal and with momentum ahead of a domestic cup semi-final. The result matters now because Sporting must balance league duties with a first-leg Taça de Portugal semi-final against Porto next week.
Sporting CP at Estádio José Alvalade
Sporting CP’s home win was completed at Estádio José Alvalade, with the hosts converting early control into goals and a clean sheet. Luis Suárez opened the scoring in the sixth minute, tapping in from Francisco Trincão’s cross, and struck again in the 16th minute from a pass by Morten Hjulmand. Daniel Bragança rounded off the victory with a finish in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The 3-0 scoreline keeps Sporting second in Liga Portugal and follows pre-match talk that the club could see their deficit to leaders Porto temporarily increase on matchday 24.
Luis Suárez and Daniel Bragança
Suárez’s brace moved him to 22 league goals, taking the top spot in the Liga Portugal scoring chart. The Colombian finished the second strike from Hjulmand’s pass, and his early contributions set the tone for the evening. Bragança, introduced late, combined with substitute Nuno Santos to add the third in stoppage time, effectively closing the contest.
Key match statistics and goalkeeper interventions
Sporting registered 14 attempts with seven on target and enjoyed 53. 3% possession. Estoril produced seven attempts, three on target, and were limited to a single corner. Estoril goalkeeper Joel Robles made smart stops from Trincão before half-time and from Souleymane Faye after the restart; Sporting’s Rui Silva was alert at his end too, denying João Carvalho on the stroke of half-time and parrying a Rafik Guitane chance soon after the restart. The game saw brief first-half stoppages for treatment to Maximiliano Araújo and Felix Bacher before play resumed.
Estoril Praia and Ian Cathro’s response
Estoril Praia arrived in Lisbon off a morale-boosting 3-1 victory over Gil Vicente at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota the previous weekend. That win followed a heavy defeat to AVS; in the Gil Vicente match Estoril conceded a penalty inside the opening 15 minutes before Felix Bacher restored parity and Yanis Begraoui added a second-half brace. Estoril had won six of their last nine league matches (W6, D1, L2) and scored three or more goals in five of those victories, giving them the third-best attacking record in the division with 46 Primeira Liga strikes — two more than leaders Porto — but they had also conceded 39 times and shown vulnerability away, losing six of 11 road fixtures this season (four of those defeats came in their last six away, with two wins).
Rui Borges, competition load and recent Sporting form
Rui Borges’s side entered the fixture unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions (W8, D1) since elimination from the Taça da Liga semi-final, a run that included direct qualification for the Champions League last 16 and progression to the last four of the Portuguese Cup. Sporting also carried a 19-game unbeaten league run (W15, D4) and had collected maximum points from all 18 previous league matches against teams currently outside the top five. That sequence included a 1-0 victory away to Estoril in September; Sporting had won each of their last nine meetings and had prevailed in their last 13 home matches across all competitions. The first leg of their Taça de Portugal semi-final against Porto is set for next Tuesday at Estadio Jose Alvalade, and Sporting will host Porto again in cup action following this league match.
Injuries and squad availability
Sporting will remain without centre-back Zeno Debast, who is nursing a ligament issue, and Giorgi Kochorashvili was set to miss a fourth consecutive match through injury. Chelsea-bound winger Geovany Quenda remained in London recovering from foot surgery and had been sidelined since early December. On a more positive note, midfielder Pedro Goncalves is unclear in the provided context.
Immediate implications for both clubs
The win kept Sporting in position to chase Porto at the top — they were four points adrift of leaders Porto before the evening’s fixtures, with Porto due to face Arouca earlier in the evening — and preserved momentum ahead of a high-stakes domestic cup tie. For Estoril, the defeat ends a run of strong attacking displays but leaves open questions about defensive consistency. Next up, Sporting will host Porto in the Taça de Portugal while Estoril host Casa Pia.
What makes this notable is the way an early two-goal cushion, combined with Suárez’s scoring form, translated into control of a match that also underlined the gap between Sporting’s league-high scoring output and Estoril’s defensive fragility.
