Rui Borges on penalty and team’s attitude after Santa Clara v Sporting | OneFootball

Rui Borges spoke about all the topics regarding Santa Clara - Sporting, which the Lions won 3-2 in extra time, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup. The coach of the green and whites analyzed the match played by his team and also the controversial incident that marked the encounter

Match Analysis

"It was a very competitive game, as we expected. A tough match against a very competitive, well-organized opponent, difficult to face at home. We started well, scored a goal, but then we let Santa Clara grow at certain moments in transition, exposed, with many players involved in the offensive process and some of our own ball losses, sometimes with passes we didn’t need to make, we should have been a bit more patient. They ended up scoring the equalizer also in a transition play, a 1vs1 situation, they are aggressive in that process of verticality and attacking the opponent's goal. The first half then turned out to be very competitive and very evenly matched after the equalizer. We started the second half better with the ball, adjusted one or two details in the first stage of build-up, controlled the game more with possession and immediately created two or three chances near Santa Clara’s goal. And I think that in the only really dangerous play Santa Clara had near our goal, in the 85th minute, they made it 2-1. Then there was the incident in the box, we equalized and then in extra time our physical side came out a bit as well. We controlled the game, made it 3-2, and Santa Clara didn’t create any dangerous chances at that point."

Team Difficulties

"Difficulties will happen, of course. There are some changes, but I’m not going to cling to that. It was clear that we didn’t have the same overall energy. It wasn’t so much individual or the connections, because we even started well in a tough game against a low block and, as I said, a very aggressive and intense team in the duels. The spaces are tight with a team that is so cohesive and so deep. They don’t give us that space. We knew how we had to keep the ball, that’s why I say we even started well. Then we ended up falling into that excess of unnecessary ball losses and letting the opponent get some transitions. But I think in the future it has nothing to do with that. We have to juggle adapting players, putting them in positions they haven’t played in. We don’t have training time for that adaptation. We have to adapt within the players we have. Some guys aren’t at 100%, because a lot of them are sick, with colds and viruses. It was noticeable that, in general, we didn’t have that high energy. But above all, we kept calm, stayed focused. In the second half we clearly showed that concentration, we didn’t let Santa Clara get into transition as often as we did in the first, and we controlled the game better. With the options we have, we’ll have to adapt and that can’t be used as an excuse."

Refereeing

"Incidents happen in every game, so it’s not just this one. There are always incidents in every match. I didn’t see the play, so if it was judged, I’m not going to discuss the refereeing. It took so long to award a penalty. From our side, we converted, got the equalizer, and then we were better in extra time."

Controversial Penalty

"I didn’t see any footage. I’m not going to talk about match incidents. I want to value both teams on the field, that’s all."

Sporting 'alive' in the Portuguese Cup

"We really want to fight for a trophy that is ours, but we know we have to get through these stages. We have to think about the next league match, which is another tough away game."

"We were talking about football in general, not so much about the match itself. We were talking about the individuality of one team and the other."

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