Call the ‘electrician’ Raphinha: Lion is still plugged in

Sporting defeated Qarabag on the opening day of the Europa League group stage.

And five wins in six games. This is the accounting of Sporting since the official start of the 2018/19 season. After three wins in the Portuguese League and a victory against Marítimo, for the League Cup, the lion added a new recipe of success, this time against Qarabag.

This Thursday, the leonine side won the Azerbaijani emblem on the opening day of the UEFA Europa League group stage 2-0 with Raphinha as the man in the spotlight after signing the victory at minute 54 and watch Jovane Cabral for his first shot in Europe. Alvalade’s new ‘whooping’ came in at 87 ‘and needed a minute just to smile for glory.

The match began with a lot of Sporting in the first ten minutes of the match, in a clear search for surprising the Azerbaijani team. At this stage the lions got a shot, framed, against practically no offensive action of relief of the Qarabag. The touch was maintained until the 20 minutes, and, little by little, the visitors were able to tighten the markings in their defensive third, reason why to Sporting began lacking spaces to attack, in spite of the great energy lent by Raphinha to the game.

After 40 minutes, Mathieu’s left-footed effort was turned into a great chance for Fredy Montero. The Colombian, with a deviation of heel, only did not score because Vágner was very attentive. The move would be invalidated by offside, but it was the reflection of the match.

The second half began with a reckless lion and the advantage on the scoreboard smiled at 54 minutes, for the restless Raphinha, to hit the second post successfully after a brilliant cross from Nani on the right side. The Qarabag tried to react and, around the 70 minutes, recorded three shots in the second part, against two of the pupils of Jose Peseiro.

But Sporting had the chance of knowing what to do to stop the high rhythm of the game, reason why, little by little, began to control the game. The idea was that the victory no longer escaped the Portuguese formation. And he did not run away. Incidentally, there was still time for Jovane Cabral to extend to 2-0, to complete easily after center of Raphinha on the left.