PSV give away victory against Sporting Portugal by conceding late goal

PSV were unable to secure a victory against Sporting Portugal in the Champions League at home. The Dutch champions deservedly took the lead and missed several big chances to score a second goal. As a result, Daniel Braganca was able to equalize in the 84th minute (1-1).

This means that PSV have just one point in their first two matches in the highest European competition, with matches against Paris Saint-Germain, Girona, Shakhtar Donetsk, Stade Brest, Red Star Belgrade, and Liverpool to come.

Manager Peter Bosz felt Noa Lang and Rick Karsdorp were not fit enough to start. Therefore, Malik Tillman was chosen to play left wing again, and Guus Til started in the midfield. The home team also started the match with Mauro Junior and Matteo Dams. Both full-backs were dribbled past with ease at times, but the damage was limited in the end.

PSV were equal to their opponents in a technical and tactical sense. But just like most Portuguese teams, Sporting also had other qualities. The players of the first-place team in Portugal tried everything to get the home team’s players out of their game, but their attempts were unsuccessful. PSV stayed calm and took the lead through one of the best players on the pitch. Jerdy Schouten intercepted a risky pass from Zeno Debast and kept his composure in front of goal: 1-0.

Schouten dominated in the midfield. He spread the play, won many battles, and intercepted the ball on many occasions. Ryan Flamingo also stood out in a positive sense. Bosz had given a lot of attention to Viktor Gyökeres in his pre-match team talk. But the Swedish striker struggled against the defender who played for FC Utrecht last season.

It was a shame for PSV that they did not increase their lead in the opening stages of the second half. Ismael Saibari’s shot went just wide off the goal, and Til hit a shot over. Luuk de Jong was also unable to reward a sublime piece of technical skill with a goal.

With Karsdorp and Lang having come on for Saibari and Mauro Junior, the team kept pushing for the second goal, which would decide the match in their favor. But this goal did not come. Lang even created a significant chance for the opponents, but Eduardo Quaresma slipped when he was about to profit from the PSV winger’s mistake.

However, Eduardo Braganca scored a little while later to give the visiting supporters something to cheer about.