Jorge Amaral: First chance to Porto, Varela hits the post | OneFootball

It was a Classic full of emotion that took place at the Estádio José Alvalade on Tuesday night. Sporting prevailed over FC Porto by 1-0, with a goal from Luis Suárez, securing an advantage in the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup.

The match was also marked by controversial refereeing from Cláudio Pereira, which led to interventions from the presidents of both clubs in the mixed zone at Estádio José Alvalade, just days before another Classic, this time at Estádio da Luz, between Benfica and FC Porto.

In an exclusive interview with Desporto ao Minuto, Jorge Amaral analyzed the outcome of the Classic between Sporting and FC Porto for the Portuguese Cup. The former Dragons player admitted that a draw would have been the fairest result. Despite the defeat, the former goalkeeper did not seem particularly concerned about possible repercussions for Sunday’s match at the Luz.

“It’s not worrying. Taking all the incidents of the game into account, maybe Suárez would have been sent off right away, then there’s the double yellow for Alberto Costa. If we look at what happened in the first half, we see what FC Porto didn’t do, but we also have to look at what FC Porto didn’t allow Sporting to do. If someone was supposed to be the protagonist of the game, it wasn’t FC Porto, it was Sporting. Sporting, which has shown an attacking tendency, great versatility in the final third, and has been dominating, let’s say, their opponents, created absolutely nothing,” he began by saying.

“Sporting had a shot from Fresneda and another shot from William Gomes. It was a poor first half, in terms of football, but perhaps even poorer from the team that was supposed to take the lead in the game. Here, credit must be given to what FC Porto worked on tactically, not letting Sporting play and trying, as much as possible, to get there. They even tried in certain ways, but lacked criteria and definition in the final third of the field,” emphasized the former Portuguese international.

“In the second half, I think Bednarek’s injury, all the defensive changes Farioli had to make, gave a bit more space to Suárez and Sporting’s more advanced players. The first clear goal opportunity of that half was from FC Porto, with a shot from Alan Varela that hit the bar. Then came the penalty incident. From there, it became a different game, because FC Porto had to chase the result, had to push their lines higher, make substitutions, and Sporting started to have more space to play. Sporting was less challenged offensively because FC Porto had to push up, and there, I admit that when they tried to go for the draw, I think Sporting was always closer to scoring a second goal,” he added.

“The game at Alvalade and at the Luz are different. At Alvalade, FC Porto didn’t have to go all out because there’s still a second leg. I’ll be worried if, eventually, FC Porto doesn’t win consistently. Losing the way they lost at Alvalade… The fairest result would have been a draw based on what both teams did,” he concluded.

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