Sporting CP 2-3 LASK: result and report

The Pundit picked Sporting CP (61%): wrong

Report

LASK won 3-2 at the Estádio José Alvalade, even though Sporting CP created far more of the clear chances. Sporting CP did not lose because they were outplayed. They lost because they missed their best opportunities while LASK took theirs.

How the goals came

Sporting CP started brightly because Luis Suárez scored a penalty in the fifth minute. The lead lasted only ten minutes, though, before Christoph Lang equalised from Kasper Jørgensen's pass.

The game stayed level until LASK scored twice in five minutes. Sasa Kalajdzic put them ahead on 63 minutes after Robert Ljubicic set him up. Krystof Danek then made it 3-1 on 68 minutes from Samuel Adeniran's assist. Suárez scored again in the 89th minute from Jesse Derry's pass, but it came too late to rescue a point.

Sporting CP: the chances that went begging

The chance numbers point the other way from the scoreline. Sporting CP finished with more than three expected goals, while LASK had fewer than 1.3. Sporting CP created five big chances to LASK's one and missed three of them.

They also had 62% of the ball and led dangerous attacks 53 to 33. As a result, this was not a home side that struggled to get into good areas. It was a home side that kept arriving there without making it count.

LASK: making their shots count

LASK had fewer shots than Sporting CP, but they hit the target seven times to four. Sporting CP's goalkeeper therefore had far more to do, making four saves while LASK's made two. Only one of LASK's chances was a big chance, yet they still scored three times.

There is one caveat to the idea that LASK simply got lucky. They also edged key passes, 11 to 10. That suggests they did more than defend and wait, even if the quality of their openings was lower.