Manuel Moura dos Santos scolds Sporting player, targets Rui Borges | OneFootball

Manuel Moura dos Santos was somewhat unsettled by Sporting's defeat in Naples (2-1). The green and white supporter believes that, with a different approach, the Lions could have left Italy with some points and points to Rui Borges on the importance of beating Braga.

"With some surprises in the starting eleven, my team was able to control the opponent, not giving them many chances to threaten our goal. The thing is, in football, if you don't take some risks, it's very hard to win. An overly cautious Sporting could hardly bring back more than a defeat from Naples. The first half was dominated by Napoli, ending with a goal when my team had possession, allowing a quick transition by De Bruyne. And I say allowed, because the Belgian player left from near his own area, covering more than 30 meters without anyone stopping him, letting him make the pass for Hojlund's goal," he began, speaking to the newspaper O Jogo.

Moura dos Santos explained that the Italians' opening goal could easily have been avoided: "In a situation like the one described, Eduardo Quaresma should have committed a tactical foul to stop the Napoli player’s progress. The yellow card would have been a lesser evil, considering the outcome of the play. In the second half, with Suárez and Pote already on the field, Sporting was clearly better, managing to equalize."

Rui Silva is not exempt from blame, but what was most evident to me was the absence of Diomande in the center of defense. I seriously doubt that Hojlund would have scored that goal if he had been up against the Ivorian center-back. Sporting chased the result, trying to equalize, and Hjulmand, at the end of the game, had a header that Milinkovic-Savic stopped with an extraordinary save. We missed a good opportunity to bring back a different result from Naples. After all, the Italian team was not a bogeyman. In a competition like this, you can't afford to miss these opportunities, because points are worth gold.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.