Sporting won the derby against FC Porto this Sunday (4-2), on the opening day of the I Roller Hockey Division, in a game with a faster first half and a more calculating second.
By whim of the calendar, the first day dictated a direct confrontation between two of the main candidates for the national title at the Pavilhão João Rocha, in Lisbon.
With a new coach and even new heads of the roller hockey section, Sporting opened the championship with FC Porto determined to overcome the recent defeat in the António Livramento Super Cup against Benfica.
The start of the game was promising, in an ‘attack against attack’ record, with both teams looking for the opposite goal with speed and Sporting achieving the first dangerous situation in a shot to the post by Toni Pérez, in the sixth minute.
In the following minute, FC Porto was effective and opened the scoring, in a rebound by Xavi Barroso, after a first stop by Ângelo Girão.
The game went on fast and Sporting had a direct free kick, but Gonzalo Romero wasted that chance.
The Argentine would be the protagonist again, this time with success, in the 10th minute, when he assisted João Souto for the equalizer and, again in the 19th, when he suffered a penalty, which he converted for the comeback.
However, FC Porto was still alive in the match and, at 21, restored equality, also in a penalty to punish Ângelo Girão’s takedown of Carlo Di Benedetto. Called to goal Gonçalo Alves tied the match.
With the teams even, both approached a more cautious position in the second half, and, in the last half, Sporting was happier, through a good combination finished off by Matías Platero in the area, at 44.
The ‘lion’ recovered -and definitively- control of the scoreboard and, just over a minute from the end, scored a quiet goal, by Toni Pérez, requested by the Blue and Whites’ goal, after a play of insistence by Ferran Font.
The fourth goal confirmed the sportinguista victory and entry to the triumph of the ‘lions’ in the I Division, FC Porto supposes the second consecutive defeat, both against rivals.
Source: TSF
