Sporting CP drew 2-2 away against Estrela da Amadora on Saturday after giving up a two-goal lead in their opening Portuguese I Liga match. The result at Reboleira leaves Sporting tied on one point with Estrela da Amadora, Estoril Praia, and Famalicão after four matches of the first round.
Sporting created early pressure in the sixth minute when midfielder Issa Doumbia drove down the central corridor and passed to Fotis Ioannidis, who shot straight at Estrela goalkeeper Leo Linck. Flávio Gonçalves cut inside from the left five minutes later and hit a curling shot that Linck saved, before Rodrigo Zalazar struck a 14th-minute free kick directly into the Estrela wall.
Ioannidis missed several chances midway through the first half, putting a strained shot wide from a Rodrigo Dias cross in the 16th minute. Two minutes later, Zalazar took a corner that Eduardo Quaresma headed back across the face of goal from the far post, but the Greek forward headed wide for his third missed chance of the game.
First half opportunities
Gonçalves released Ioannidis on a running pass in the 32nd minute, only for the forward to lose his angle and shoot over from a tight spot. Zalazar delivered a cross to Ioannidis two meters from goal in the 37th minute, but Linck saved the header to deny the forward on his fifth attempt. Estrela responded in the 38th minute when Abraham Marcus tried a 30-meter shot that went off target.
Gonçalves headed over the bar from a Geny Catamo cross in the 41st minute, and Zalazar shot weakly to Linck three minutes later after receiving the ball inside the penalty area. The teams went into the halftime interval scoreless despite Sporting's dominance in chances.
Sporting build two goal lead
Sporting opened the scoring in the 46th minute right after the restart when Gonçalves played a pass across to Catamo on the right wing. The Mozambican player drew two defenders before setting up Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Zalazar, who placed his shot into the net for a 1-0 lead.
Sporting won a corner in the 51st minute when Bernardo Schappo turned the ball out, and from the resulting play, Linck saved a right-footed shot from outside the area by Gonçalves following a Zalazar cross. Estrela defender Eddy Doué received a yellow card in the 52nd minute for a foul on Georgios Vagiannidis, before Ioannidis sent another shot wide two minutes later.
Catamo forced a save from Linck with a powerful strike in the 58th minute. Sporting doubled their lead one minute later when Zalazar received the ball on the right, reached the end line, and crossed into the box for Ioannidis to tap home after failing to score on his earlier attempts.
Substitutions and Estrela fightback
Both teams made changes in the 61st minute as Sporting replaced Ioannidis with Luis Suárez and substituted Gonçalves for Silas Andersen. Estrela brought on Robinho for Santiago Ferreira e Serra in the 65th minute, while Suárez earned a yellow card in the 67th minute before Estrela forward Ianis Stoica fired a shot high over the crossbar a minute later.
Estrela cut the deficit in the 72nd minute when Leandro Antonetti dispossessed Eduardo Quaresma, who gave up on the play, allowing Antonetti to score with a left-footed shot past goalkeeper Rui Silva. Estrela then brought on Jefferson Encada for Max Scholze in the 73rd minute and sent on Beni Souza for Stoica in the 74th minute.
Sporting refreshed their squad in the 78th and 79th minutes by substituting Vagiannidis for Iván Fresneda and replacing Catamo with Luís Guilherme Lira dos Santos. Estrela threatened an equalizer in the 82nd minute when Bernardo Schappo headed wide in the center of the area from a Rafa Soares corner cross, right before Sporting replaced Doumbia with Jesse Derry.
Late equalizer and stoppage time
Estrela tied the match 2-2 in the 84th minute after Beni Souza sent in a cross and goalkeeper Rui Silva made an error while trying to cut off the ball, putting it into his own net with questions remaining over whether it would be counted as an own goal. Silva redeemed himself two minutes later by saving a one-on-one effort from Abraham Marcus after the winger broke free.
Estrela made two final substitutions, replacing Antonetti with Sydney van Hooijdonk in the 89th minute after winning a corner conceded by Gonçalo Inácio, and bringing on Abraham Marcus for Alisson Souza in the 90th minute. Stoppage time saw both teams receive yellow cards in the 92nd minute.
Derry received a yellow card for Sporting in the 92nd minute.
Beni Souza was shown a yellow card for Estrela in the same minute before the referee blew the final whistle.
