Sporting see off Madeira to reach cup final
Reuters - Wednesday 08 February 2012, 23:08
Dutch striker Ricky van
Wolfswinkel and Argentine Fabian Rinaudo both scored to help
Sporting beat 10-man Nacional 3-1 on Wednesday and secure a
berth in Portugal's cup final.
Hosts Nacional started strongly and hit the bar in the
opening minutes but it was Sporting midfielder Rinaudo, back
after a long injury, who scored the opener with a cleanly-taken
drive in the 17th minute.
Sporting coach Domingos Paciencia had flagged the domestic cup as his new priority after a poor run of form left his side
trailing 13 points behind leaders Benfica, in fourth place in
the Portuguese Premier League.
Paciencia's ambitions hung in the balance when Nacional
forward Diego Barcellos headed an equaliser in the second half.
Sporting had travelled to the Atlantic island of Madeira
needing a win or a goal-filled tie after they were held to a 2-2
home draw in the first leg.
The visitors got their breakthrough when Wolfswinkel
converted from the spot to put Sporting back in front with 20
minutes to go and breathed a sigh of relief deep in stoppage-time when Joao Pereira made it 3-1.
"We suffered to win this one but we battled on and should
congratulate ourselves," Paciencia told journalists.
Sporting will meet Academica in the cup final.