Despite Luis Suárez’s double, Vítor Pinto says 2 Sporting men outshone him | OneFootball

Vítor Pinto believes that Frederico Varandas did well not to fuel the noise surrounding Luis Suárez, but feels that, despite the Colombian’s brace, Flávio Gonçalves and Geny Catamo were the most decisive players in building Sporting’s 4-0 win.

"Frederico Varandas decided to turn a deaf ear to the hysteria surrounding Luis Suárez. Sporting’s downplaying of the well-known controversial episodes was strategic. And so, after an opening spell in which Ioannidis was the protagonist, the Colombian stepped up when Sporting needed him in the face of the Greek’s lack of reliability, and he now has three goals. There are 37 left to reach the target set by the Sporting president and, with the market close to shutting, a stay now seems inevitable. Besides, he was not even the top marksman and did not leave the win in Vila do Conde all but secured. Flávio Gonçalves and Catamo blazed the trail," he wrote in the newspaper 'Record'.

The commentator believes Suárez’s stay now seems increasingly likely. Even so, he acknowledges that backing the striker also exposed Frederico Varandas to a risk: "It is true that Varandas was exposed to something as decisive as the player’s character, as he could lose his way in the face of outside influences," he said.

Vítor Pinto also highlights the alignment between the club structure and Rui Borges regarding the striker’s behaviour: "In the end, Rui Borges’ reading of Suárez’s behaviour in Alcochete was in tune, and the lion keeps an important weapon for the season ahead".

The display against Rio Ave ended in an emphatic result and allowed Sporting to add another three points, on a night when the team finally managed to combine attacking efficiency with defensive solidity. It is in that latter point that Vítor Pinto finds another of the most important signs left by the Lions: .

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