Cool Braganca rescues Sporting late on to earn point against PSV
The kings of their respective leagues met with perfect domestic records for 2024/25, but there were differing fortunes for the two on matchday one of this competition. The hosts had been convincingly beaten 3-1 by Juventus, but had reasons to be optimistic here, as they were unbeaten at home in UEFA competitions across the last two seasons.
And they started like a team boasting this record, taking the lead inside the opening 15 minutes when Jerdy Schouten scored his first Champions League goal, after latching onto a loose pass before firing the ball brilliantly into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.
Sporting, who had won their opening fixture 2-0 against Lille, had a first half to forget by contrast. The visitors rarely threatened PSV’s goal, and to make matters worse, they were forced into substituting their key defender Ousmane Diomande off through injury with over an hour left to play.
There would be no further punishment for Sporting, but the second half started just like the first, with PSV nearly doubling their advantage, as great chances for Ismael Saibari and Guus Til went narrowly wide of the post within five minutes of the restart.
The hosts' high press continued to cause the Sporting defence issues, somehow not extending the lead when they won the ball back high up the pitch resulting in Luuk de Jong putting the ball just wide of the post after he set himself up nicely with a cute flick.
It took the visitors the best part of 70 minutes to create their best chance of the match when Hidemasa Morita was put through on goal by Daniel Braganca, but the midfielder somehow got his legs muddled up before he could get his shot away, giving the hosts a huge let off.
But the worst miss of all came from PSV shortly before the final whistle, when the usually reliable Johan Bakayoko pounced on a poor backpass to round the keeper and criminally put the ball wide of an empty net.
The home side paid dearly, conceding just minutes later when Maximiliano Araujo’s deflected cross was turned in by Bragança in front of a jubilant set of away fans.
Despite a chaotic end to the match, neither side could find the all-important breakthrough and settled for a draw that extended Sporting’s unbeaten run to the season to nine games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Daniel Braganca (Sporting CP)