DI said the phrase attributed to Mark Twain that “history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes”, and the truth is that Sporting insists on confirming it, with yet another collection of individual errors that cost them dearly again, this time, in the defeat suffered against LASK Linz, last Wednesday, at the José Alvalade Stadium, by 2-3.
The Lions took the lead, in the match on the third round of the Champions League league stage, just after the fifth minute, following a penalty converted by Luis Suárez. However, as has happened so often, in the new 2026/27 sports season, they were unable to hold on to the result.
The response from the Austrians came after 15 minutes, when Luis Suarez lost the ball in the defensive third. This would eventually reach Christoph Lang, whom Eduardo Quaresma he gave plenty of space to control and prepare a crossed shot that only stopped in the back of the goal in the guard of Kaique Pereira.
The turnaround was accomplished in the 63rd minute, the result of yet another inattention. Sergi Altimira he lost the ball in attack and was called for a foul but Scottish referee Nicholas Walsh did not signal it, resulting in a counterattack in which Rui Borges’ men were caught outnumbered and Sasa Kalajdzic scored.
The ‘final blow’ would appear just five minutes later. Luis Suarez and Maxi Araújo They became uncoordinated, giving rise to yet another rapid transition. This time, in the penalty area, it was the turn of Gonçalo Inácio being too ‘gentle’ in front of Krystof Danek, who shot against his legs and made it 1-3.
In the 89th minute, Luis Suárez scored twice, after an insistent move that ended with a feint on the opposing goalkeeper, Tobias Schutzenauer (who had replaced Lukas Jungwirth, who was injured after a shocking collision with the Colombian international), but there was no time for recovery.
Sporting’s ‘foot shots’ don’t stop there
This succession of individual errors on the part of Sporting began in the inaugural round of the I League, when an advantage over Estrela da Amadora, by 0-2, turned into a 2-2 draw, as a result of a lost ball. Eduardo Quaresma and an unfortunate approach to Rui Silvawhich led to goals from Leandro Antonetti and Beni Souza.
This was followed by a 3-2 victory over Vitória SC… in a game in which they ended up winning, 3-0. The first Guimarães goal, scored by Samu Silva, was born from a move to understand the attack, but the second, two minutes later, was born from another lost ball, in this case, from Rodrigo Zalazar.
In the 3-1 victory over Alverca, Rui Silva He was unable to deflect a strong shot, but it was aimed at Figueiredo. A result that was repeated against Galatasaray, when, on the other hand, they started to lose, following an own goal scored by Gonçalo Ináciojust after the fifth minute.
Two consecutive draws followed, against Famalicão, resulting in yet another misfortune for Gonçalo Inácioand against Arouca, in this case, due to ‘fault’, above all, of Zeno Debastwho was sent off for a harsh foul on Gabriel Rukavina, and Eduardo Quaresma, who provoked a penalty, before letting it slip Dylan Nandínin the equalizing goal.
More recently, in the 1-3 victory over Sporting de Braga, the ‘ugly duckling’ was, once again, Rui Silvawhich saw Pau Víctor’s shot hit the post and then his back, in a ridiculous move that, at the time, left the defending national runners-up losing 1-0.
All things considered, of the 13 goals Sporting have conceded this season, 12 have come from individual errors. A ‘headache’ for Rui Borges to resolve will await him, in time, for the duel of the ninth round of the national championship, against Académico de Viseu, which has the starting whistle scheduled for 8:30 pm (Mainland Portugal time) on Sunday.
