Portugal
Primeira Liga
Monday 20th February 2023
Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.01
Grupo Desportivo Chaves 2 Sporting Clube Portugal 3, attendance 4,981
8’ 0-1 (pen)
54’ 1-1
61’ 1-2
70’ 1-3
90’ + 6, 2-3
@ Estadio Municipal Engenheiro Manuel Branco Teixeira
Avenida Estadio 103
5400-265 Chaves
€35 Admission
No Programme.
Today we left Spain and headed back in to Portugal for the final game of our trip. The 254 miles from Burgos to Chaves took 3 hours 40 minutes, but we gained an hour back as we crossed the border about 10 miles before reaching our destination, due to the time difference between the two countries. Of all the games we were planning on watching, this was the one we thought may be problematic, as far as getting tickets went. The club never replied to an e-mail, although a work colleague (speaks Spanish, but understands Portuguese) of the driver had spoken to the club by phone and had been assured there would be no problem buying tickets on the day, which was finally confirmed on the ticket page of the club website, but not until after we had booked our flights! We drove straight to the ground, having timed it perfectly (closed for lunch from 13.00-14.00) to catch the office open. Unlike yesterday, all went to plan and within two minutes of pulling in to the car park, we had our tickets.
Chaves are not one of the big clubs in Portugal. Their only honours since their formation in 1949 are two Segunda Liga titles (2008/09 and 2012/13) and they were also runners-up in the Taça de Portugal in 2010, having lost 2-1 to Porto in the final. Sporting Clube, on the other hand, are very much one of the ‘big 3’ here, behind Benfica and Porto. They have won the Primeira Liga 19 times, the Portuguese Cup 17 times, as well as 4 League Cup wins. Their sole European trophy was a U.E.F.A. Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1964.
The Estadio Municipal Engenheiro Manuel Branco Teixeira, famous as being the ground where Cristiano Ronaldo made his international debut for Portugal, is a mixture of old and new. The capacity nowadays is 8,396 which might have been tested if Sporting Clube weren’t having such an indifferent season, down in fourth place in the league table, way off Benfica and Porto and even trailing third placed Braga by 11 points coming into this. They still had a decent following though, with supporters dotted about the ground, despite having a designated away section behind the goal at the far end.
Chaves came into this in eleventh place in the table and should comfortably avoid being dragged in to any relegation battle. They didn’t get off to the best of starts here though, conceding a penalty after just eight minutes. Sporting nearly doubled their lead, but a cross from the left was smashed against the crossbar from close range, then before the half hour mark they had a chance to draw level, but the one on one chance ended with the Sporting ‘keeper saving the shot with his legs. The equaliser came just minutes later when a speculative effort from the corner of the 18 yard box seemed to deceive the ‘keeper and went in at the far post. It looked like the hosts had gone in front right on halftime, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The second half was much more comfortable for the visitors. They had a goal disallowed for offside themselves, but soon regained the lead with a cracking effort curled into the far corner from 20 yards. It was soon 1-3, when a cross from the right beat the ‘keeper at his near post via a possible deflection. It could have been 1-4, but having been awarded a second penalty, Sporting this time missed, when it was saved by the Chaves ‘keeper. Six minutes into stoppage time Chaves pulled it back to 2-3, heading a cross back across the ‘keeper for a header that went in off the far post, but the final whistle went immediately after the restart.
We had covered 842 miles on our tour of Iberia. The return flight from Porto back to London Gatwick on Tuesday lunchtime left dead on time and back in Blighty for 14.20. Another successful trip!
