Dragons stay alive in the league with this triumph, leaving them two points behind Sporting
After 25 matches, there was a team that defeated Sporting in the national championship. FC Porto hosted the competition leaders and defeated them 37-35 to keep their chances of retaining the national title alive.
The blue and white victory began to be built in the final third of the first half which, despite everything, started quite closely – 12-12 after 19 minutes. With Daymaro Salina and Victor Iturriza playing for the first time at Dragão Arena after several months of absence, the defense of the home team was fundamental in gaining the advantage, causing offensive errors by the Leonine team.
Thus, they managed to distance themselves on the scoreboard (18-13), largely thanks to three saves in the space of seven minutes by Mitrevski. However, the Alvalade club reduced the score and went into half-time losing by four (20-16).
With the presence of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa in the pavilion, Carlos Resende’s pupils continued to perform practically without errors. However, the green and whites continued to fight and got closer to the home team, even coming within one goal of tying the duel (35-34 and 36-35). The Dragons would only take a deep breath after a goal in the last seconds by Rui Silva.
With this result, Sporting maintains first place (40 points), but sees FC Porto (38) closing the gap in the fight for the leadership of group A.
GROUP A CLASSIFICATION – NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
1st Sporting 40 points
2nd FC Porto 38 points
3rd Benfica 34 points
4th ABC 28 points
