Benfica 1–3 Sporting CP Player Ratings: Leoes Complete a Domestic Double After Trincao’s Brilliance Against Benfica in the Taca De Portugal Final

Sporting CP staged a tremendous comeback against Benfica to lift their 18th Taca de Portugal trophy at the Estadio Nacional on Sunday. Benfica took the lead with the help of Okun Kokcu in the initial moments of the first half, and just two minutes before the added time of that half, Viktor Gyokeres won a penalty and scored it to keep Sporting's hopes alive.

Substitute Conrad Harder's head in the 97th minute gave Bruno Lage's side the lead, and Trincao scored the final goal in the 120th minute to make the score 1-3. Trincao put on a phenomenal performance in extra time, assisting one and scoring one to help his side complete a domestic double.

Both sides were trying each other out before the cup competition finals began, with none of them jeopardizing their fitness or stamina to gain an early advantage. Goncalo Inacio's effort to block a shot led to the referee pointing to the spot for a penalty for Benfica, but it was subsequently disallowed following a VAR review.

Pavlidis then had a stunning shot from point-blank range, but goalie Rui Silva stopped it with his tip, allowing the ball to strike the post and tie the score. Bruma made a good run after a layoff from Pavlidis, but his shot was deflected by Inacio for a corner. This was a great opportunity to test Rui Silva, but Inacio was strong enough to prevent it from reaching the last line of defence. As the half progressed, Benfica started to dominate, and Sporting were finding it very difficult to move the ball out of their half. Sporting had only one good opportunity in the first half to open the scoring, but Gyokeres' shot was not just convincing enough to Benfica's Samuel Soares.

Both the teams had their share of chances in the first 45 minutes, but none were convincing. Bruma and Pavlidis played good shot passes and helped each other to have a go at the goal, but the goalkeeper was brave enough to save it. The second half started with tempo from both sides, and Benfica were quick to strike and make the score 1-0. The Turkish Orkun Kokcu scored his 12th goal across all competitions from just outside the box as his shot went out of reach for Sporting's goalkeeper. Just moments later, Bruma showed his brilliance with his link-up play with Pavlidis to make the score 2-0, but a foul by Carreras during the build-up disallowed the goal. Within a span of three minutes Sporting were shell shocked as Benfica put a foot to the accelerator to take a handy lead but were saved.

After the goal was cancelled due to the foul, the game was slowed down by Sporting as they tried to get back into the game with the help of an equalizer. The game went well as both sides got several opportunities but were not converted. Around the 80th minute, Belotti had a good chance inside the box but was saved well by Soares.

As the game seemed to be in favor of Benfica, Sporting won a penalty in extra time, and Viktor Gyokeres made no mistake in converting that spot-kick to make the scoreline 1-1. The match goes into extra time, and around the 97th minute, Gyokeres had an outstanding opportunity to score but was cleared by a Benfica defender for a corner. From that corner, Trincao put in a floating cross only to find Conrad Harder, who jumped the highest to put the ball into the net to make the score 1-2, and Soares was left wanting. Benfica tried a lot to get back into the game, but Sporting were rock solid at the back. Just when the clock was about to hit the 120th minute, Trincao produced his brilliance to make the score 1-3 and take his season's tally to 11. Here are the Benfica vs Sporting CP Player Ratings.

Benfica Player Ratings vs Sporting CP

GK- Anatoliy Trubin- 6.2/10

Did have quiet first half but after the 80th minute of the game, he was brought into action multiple times but conceded thrice in a span of 35 minutes.

CB- Antonio Silva- 6.8/10

Defensively solid but hasn’t contributed much going forward. His positioning has been good, but Benfica needed more from him in transition

CB- Nicolas Otamendi- 7.0/10

The Argentine World-cup winner was strong at the heart of a back-three in defence. He was involved in over 12 defensive actions and won several duels to keep the Sporting attackers at bay.

CB- Alvaro Carreras- 6.8/10

The defender had a decent game as he contributed both in attack and defence. He won couple of battles against Gyokeres on the flanks and was solid when under pressure.

RM- Tomas Araujo- 6.9/10

The 23-year-old right midfielder did well as he built various attacks from the right side of the pitch. He maintained a good passing accuracy and helped the defence as well.

CM- Florentino Luis- 7.0/10

The Portuguese midfielder was well in control of the game and slotted in well as an extra defender when the club needed it.

CM- Orkun Kokcu- 7.5/10

Did not have a very active first half, as he was overshadowed by other attackers, but his role was crucial in the second half as he opened the scoring with a long-range effort. He created several attacking opportunities for his side and was crucial in the build-ups.

LM- Samuel Dahl- 6.8/10

The Swedish international took on a lot of work as he ran up and down the left side of the pitch, helping the team in defence and attack. He did well to mark the likes of Trincao and Pedro Goncalves.

AM- Kerem Akturkoglu- 7.3/10

The Turkish midfielder had a good game as an attacking midfielder and gave good support to the likes of Pavlidis and Bruma in the final third. He assisted the goal of Kokcu.

ST- Vangelis Pavlidis- 7.0/10

The Greece international did have a good game linking up with his teammates but was not able to put his name on the scoresheet.

AM- Bruma- 7.2/10

The star of the game for Benfica, he was the best by far, with his attacking awareness influencing the play a lot. His runs were very difficult for the Sporting defenders to keep track of. He almost scored the second goal for his club but was disallowed for a foul during the build-up.

SUB- Renato Sanches- 6.3/10

The Portugues international came on to replace goal scorer Orkun Kokcu around the 69th minute of the game.

SUB- Andreas Schjelderup- 6.2/10

The attacking midfielder was substituted in to take the field in place of Kerem Akutkoglu.

SUB- Andea Belotti- N/A

SUB- Fedrik Aursnes- N/A

SUB- Leandro Barreiro- N/A

SUB- Angel Di Maria- N/A

Manager- Bruno Lage- 6.8/10

His team rarely put a foot wrong in the game, as they hardly committed any mistakes, but in the added time, a forced foul on Gyokeres took the game out of their favour.

Sporting CP Player Ratings vs Benfica

GK- Rui Silva- 6.9/10

The goalkeeper did well to keep the Benfica attackers hanging. He made more than five saves across 120 minutes of the game and played a crucial part in his club's 18th Cup title.

CB- Goncalo Inacio- 6.7/10

The Portuguese centre-back had a good game as he blocked multiple shots from Sporting's attackers. He almost gave away a penalty in the first half but was saved after VAR interfered.

CB- St. Juste- 6.8/10

The Dutch centre-back had a decent game as he stood strong but was shocked after Kokcu's shot went past Silva. He held firm with his position on several occasions and showed his physical prowess

CB- Eduardo Quaresma- 6.5/10

He was substituted around the 83rd minute in place of Ivan Fresneda, hoping to salvage something from the game but went in vain. He had a neat game but was beaten couple of times by Pavlidis but recovered well.

LM- Maximiliano Araujo- 6.8/10

The creative spark for Sporting, linking up well with the attack and delivering dangerous passes.

CM- Morten Hjulmand- 7.0/10

The midfielder did well whenever Sporting were looking to go up the pitch, as he made sure that he held the midfield line high and prevented any kind of counterattacks.

CM- Zeno Debast- 6.5/10

The Belgian midfielder's contributions have been essential to Sporting's impressive defensive structure. When Benfica put pressure on the team, he read the game perfectly to calm down the pace.

RM- Geny Catamo- 6.4/10

The full-back tried to support both the defence and the attack but was forced to focus more on the defensive duties after extensive pressure from the combination of Bruma and Pavlidis.

AM- Pedro Goncalves- 6.7/10

The Portuguese midfielder was one of the brightest spots as a bridge between the midfield and the attack. Some of his link ups with Gyokeres were crucial but could not help Sporting get a goal.

AM- Trincao- 7.8/10

Former Barcelona attacker did average to keep the pressure on the Benfica defence during the full-time. In the extra time, he was a differed beast he assisted Harder's goal around the 97th minute of the game and scored one around the 120th minute to secure Sporting's cup victory.

ST- Viktor Gyokeres- 6.8/10

Aggressive and physical, it made Benfica's defence difficult. Despite having a few solid chances, he hasn't converted. Won the penalty in the added time and converted it to take the game into the extra time.

SUB- Hidemasa Morita- 5.7/10

The Japanese midfielder was brought in around the 58th minute to replace Zeno Debast in the midfield.

SUB- Conrad Harder- 6.0/10

The Danish international came on to replace Pedro Goncalves around the 75th minute of the game. He scored the second goal for

SUB- Geovany Quenda- 5.8/10

The 18-year-old Portuguese winger came on to replace Geny Catamo.

SUB- Ivan Fresneda- N/A

SUB- Matheus- N/A

SUB- David Moreira- N/A

Manager- Rui Borges- 7.0/10

The manager organized his team well as they held Benfica for most of the game, except for that one-off incident where the Turkish midfielder shocked the defence as well as the goalkeeper. His substitutions were on point as Harder scored the winner to help his side win the title.

Sportsdunia’s Player of the Match goes to Trincao.