Sporting CP could fall further behind in the race for the Portuguese Liga title after being held to a 0-0 draw by Porto at the Estadio de Alvalade.
Both coaches decided to go for their traditional 4-3-3 formation, but not without springing tactical surprises: Domingos Paciencia deployed Renato Neto, who had returned from loan at Cercle Brugge earlier in the week, in front of the defence, while Vitor Pereira put Cristian Rodriguez and Djalma on the wings, leaving Hulk as the central point of attack.
The first sign of danger came 13 minutes into the game and it belonged to Porto. A Joao Moutinho corner targeted at the six-yard box found Maicon, whose header was denied by Rui Patricio, with no-one at the far post to turn in the rebound.
Sporting responded near the half-hour mark, as Stijn Schaars swung in a corner from the right for Anderson Polga, who saw his effort tipped away by a flying Helton.
The second half began at a frenetic pace, with both sides determined to break the deadlock, but without success. Ricky van Wolfswinkel, in the 48th minute, had just Helton to beat, but the Dutchman wasted too much time and was dispossessed by Nicolas Otamendi.
Moments later, Neto made way for Matias Fernandez, as Paciencia tried to add pace to the center of the field, an area which had been controlled by Porto’s Joao Moutinho and Fernando during the first half.
Porto came very close to scoring in the 57th minute. Moutinho played a through ball to Hulk, who, on the edge of the box, moved past Polga before firing a left-foot shot which Patricio denied with a good save.
The visitors thought they had scored in the 72nd minute after Joao Pereira was dispossessed by Cristian Rodriguez near Sporting’s area, but Hulk, who calmly chipped the ball over Patricio, was in an offside position.
Sporting could have taken the lead in the 75th minute, but Van Wolfswinkel’s shot went straight against Helton after receiving a long ball from his team’s own half.
The home side looked more lively at this point and had their best chance on 83 minutes. Matias Fernandez, with an individual move down the left flank, sent a low pass across the face of goal for Marat Izmailov, whose low shot was cleared off the line by full-back Alvaro Pereira.
With this result, Sporting remain six points behind Porto in third place. The Estadio do Dragao outfit are one point clear at the top of the table, but they could be leapfrogged by Benfica, who travel to Leiria on Sunday.
（Goal.com）
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