Luís Pedro Sousa says a Sporting star is far from his best form | OneFootball

Sporting qualified for the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup after defeating AVS 3-2 at the José Alvalade Stadium. Despite the victory, Pedro Gonçalves put in a lackluster performance, something that did not escape the scrutiny of Luís Pedro Sousa.

"Luís Guilherme showed that he is more effective on the right side, a position traditionally occupied by Geny or Trincão, so, as long as Pote is not at his best, he can only aspire to play on the left flank," he stated in his column in Jornal Record.

The chief editor of the sports daily dismissed the idea that Sporting approached the match with any arrogance: "Arrogance might be too strong a word. In any case, even judging by the starting eleven, Rui Borges managed the team physically, thinking ahead to the league match against Porto. The truth is that this management backfired and the team had to endure another half hour of extra time," he wrote.

Luís Pedro Sousa made a point of not sparing criticism for the lack of intensity shown by the Lions against the league’s bottom team. "Sporting adopted, almost invariably, a slow pace, but paradoxically, this allowed them to reach a 2-0 lead without much difficulty. However, AVS never stopped believing and, through two somewhat fortuitous incidents in Sporting’s box, managed to equalize, both through penalties," he wrote.

The green and white emblem will be back on the pitch next Monday, February 9, against Porto. The match, part of the 21st round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, against the team led by Francesco Farioli, will take place at Estádio do Dragão at 20:45.

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