Sporting hold off Benfica to clinch Primeira Liga title on dramatic last day

Sporting were crowned Primeira Liga champions after a 2-0 win over Vitoria Guimaraes on Saturday saw them hold off cross-town rivals Benfica.

Pedro Goncalves and Viktor Gyokeres netted in the second half to seal Sporting’s 21st title at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Gonclaves put the defending champions ahead in the 55th minute, while Gyokeres doubled their lead with a low strike into the bottom corner in the 82nd.

The result secured Sporting’s third title in five years.

Vitoria Guimaraes posed little danger going forward, failing to fire a shot on target in the match and sealing a largely comfortable win for Rui Borges’ side.

Sporting finished the season atop the table with 82 points, two ahead of Benfica, who fought back but were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Sporting Braga.

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The Lisbon rivals played out a heated 1-1 draw last weekend, keeping them level on points. However, Sporting’s 1-0 win in the reverse fixture back in December gave them the head-to-head advantage, meaning they just needed to match Benfica’s result to clinch the title.

Benfica did not have their fate in their own hands, though, and needed a win in their outing and a favour from Vitoria Guimaraes to have any chance at winning the title.

In a simultaneous kick-off, Braga put themselves in front in the 24th minute when Rodrigo Zalazar calmly tucked away a penalty after Ricardo Horta was fouled inside the box by Tomas Araujo.

But Benfica rallied and brought themselves level in the second half. Angel Di Maria set up Vangelis Pavlidis in the 63rd minute, but it was not enough as Sporting had taken a commanding lead.

Joao Moutinho was sent off for Braga in the 66th minute, though Benfica were not able to capitalise on the advantage.

The two sides will meet again next Sunday in the Portuguese Cup final, with Sporting aiming for a domestic double while Benfica will seek to salvage their season with a trophy.

Data Debrief: Gyokeres shines as Sporting complete rare title defence

Sporting have successfully defended a league title for the first time since winning four in a row between 1951 and 1954.

And Gyokeres has played a pivotal role in their success. The Swede has now scored 39 goals in 33 league appearances this season, more than any other player in the league and 20 ahead of second-placed Samu Omorodion.

This was a marked improvement on last season’s tally, where his 29 league goals helped Sporting claim the 2024 Primeira Liga title.

Sporting ended with a dominant expected goals (xG) value of 2.18, emphatically beating out Vitoria Guimaraes’ measly 0.04 xG.

Benfica, meanwhile, might not have won the title, but they are nonetheless irable runners-up. They have scored in 32 of their 34 games, with no other team managing to do so more often in the Primeira Liga this season.

However, on Saturday they failed to find a clinical edge, evidenced by their relatively low xG of 1.34 compared to Braga’s 1.89 xG.