A goal from Francisco Tavares, when the curtain was coming down, gave Sporting a draw against Montpellier (32-32) on Tuesday, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the European Handball League, in which the ‘lions’ were even more dominant.
In a game in which the brothers Francisco and Martim Costa, with seven goals each, were the protagonists throughout the 60 minutes, and who led Sporting to a match of another dimension, it was worth it for Montpellier, who leads on equal terms the French championship. With PSG, the numerical advantage two minutes from time so as not to have left with a defeat against the ‘lions’.
Playing at home, Sporting entered at full speed and, with three from Martim Costa, found themselves winning, 3-1, in the sixth minute of the game, but with the same speed Montpellier turned around and reached 3-4 , with a goal by Yanis Lenne.
With a deadly counterattack, the French dominated the game, although the ‘lions’ remained on track, and the score remained uncertain.
Without ever disarming, Ricardo Costa’s men fought for life, showing more cohesion and mutual aid than the Frenchmen, which is why they reached the break winning by 18-17.
The question for the remaining 30 minutes was whether Sporting could keep up with the pace of the first half.
Montpellier, increasingly arrogant, tried to stop Alvalade’s formation from time to time, even provoking the fans present in the João Rocha pavilion, as happened with Julien Bos who put his hands to his ears, asking them to still scream further.
In conclusion, Sporting closed ranks even more like David against Goliath and was not afraid. He brought water to his mill and the advantage goal, three minutes from the end of the game, seemed ‘short’ to support the formation of the south of France.
Julien Bos equalized (31-31), with a free-kick from seven meters and Yanis Lenne put Montpellier back in the lead (32-31), at a time when Sporting had one less player, for two minutes to play. exclusion Martim Costa, but Francisco Tavares, above the final whistle, equalized the match with which he finished (32-32).
The two teams meet again on April 18 at 7:45 p.m. in Montpellier for the second leg.
Source: TSF
