Pote hat-trick inspires Sporting to 4-1 comeback win against 10-man Nacional | OneFootball

Sporting beat Nacional 4-1 in Madeira but the margin of victory does not tell the whole story. Going into the final 15 minutes of the match the score was 1-1, Pedro Gonçalves having levelled an early opener by Léo Santos.

The hosts tired in the last quarter of an hour, unsurprisingly given they had been reduced to ten men after Pablo Ruan was sent off in the 37th minute, with Pote the chief beneficiary.

Gonçalves scored twice more and Conrad Harder also found the net in possibly his final game for the Lions. Sporting thus make it three wins out of three ahead of next week’s clash at home to Porto. Tom Kundert reports.

Dream start for Nacional

Nacional got off to the perfect start by taking the lead in the 3rd minute. Liziero swung over a corner and Léo Santos headed firmly into the corner of the net. The absence of Sporting’s giant centre-back Ousmane Diomande, currently out injured, was noticeable for the goal and throughout the match, with Nacional always dangerous from set pieces.

The visitors almost hit straight back, Pote’s 15-yard shot thudding against the underside of the bar. There was a worrying moment for Sporting soon afterwards when Gonçalves went down with what looked like an ankle injury, but after extensive treatment he was able to play on.

Although not as fluid as in their previous games this season, Sporting were carving out chances, Trincão and Gonçalves going close.

Ruan sees red

Nacional were dealt a blow in the 37th minute when a reckless challenge by Pablo Ruan on Kochorashvili resulted in a second yellow card for Brazilian and subsequent red. For the second successive week Sporting found themselves playing around the final hour of the match against ten men.

Hjulmand was a whisker away from equalising when he headed a Mangas cross inches wide of the post, but Nacional then had an even better chance to make it 2-0. Liziero again delivered a delicious cross, this time from a free kick, where Matheus Dias headed over the bar from point-blank range.

Dias then went from villain to hero for Nacional as he deflected Pote’s goal-bound shot past the post from practically on the goal-line.

Equaliser

Sporting continued to press hard for the equaliser in the second half, and Nacional’s resistance was finally broke thanks to a find move by the visitors. Trincão won the ball, progressed it up the pitch and fed Fresneda, whose cross was cleverly back-heeled by Suárez into the path of Pedro Gonçalves who fired into the roof of the net.

The visitors thought they had taken the lead in the 65th minute but Suárez’s effort was ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR check. With Nacional coach Tiago Margarido making a triple substitution to freshen up his team and the home players showing a good level of aggression, the local fans began to harbour hopes of earning an unlikely point as the clock ticked down.

But the irrepressible Pedro Gonçalves had other ideas. Collecting a pass from Gonçalo Inácio, Pote cut across the top of the box and hit a hard low shot past the despairing dive of Lucas França.

Nacional spurn glaring chance to equalise

Nacional were not done yet though, Lucas João missing a glorious chance of an equaliser by heading over with the islanders’ again exposing Sporting’s weakness in the air.

The miss immediately proved costly as substitute Harder – who has been linked with a transfer to either Rennes in France of AC Milan in Italy this week – neatly turned in Pote’s cross on the slide to make it 3-1.

Pote at the treble

The icing on the cake for Sporting and for Pote in particular came in stoppage time, the forward completing his hat-trick with a similar goal to his second via a crisp 20-yard shot, this time into the opposite corner of the net.

The final scoreline was harsh on Nacional, who despite collecting only one point from their first three games look to have enough about them to survive in the top flight again this season. As for Sporting, 12 goals scored in three matches suggest they are not missing the prolific Gyökeres as much as some had predicted.

Nacional 1-4 Sporting highlights

Nacional: Lucas França, João Aurélio, Léo Santos, José Gomes, Zé Vitor, Liziero (Witi Quembo, 74’), Matheus Dias, Chiheb Labidi (Filipe Soares, 46’), Paulinho Bóia (Joel Silva, 75’), Pablo Ruan, Jesús Ramírez (Lucas João, 70’)

Sporting: Rui Silva, Iván Fresneda (Georgios Vagiannidis, 64’), Zeno Debast, Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Mangas (Geovany Quenda, 64’), Morten Hjulmand, Hidemasa Morita (Giorgi Kochorashvili, 32’), Francisco Trincão, Geny Catamo (Conrad Harder, 78’), Luis Suárez, Pedro Gonçalves

[1-2] Pedro Gonçalves, 76’