Goals were shared from the penalty spot between Wolves and Sporting CP as the teams played out an entertaining draw in Faro as the end of pre-season inches ever closer.
Ruben Neves was first to find the back of the net when he turned his penalty home after Wolves began strongly out in Portugal, but it was a former Wolves Academy man who got the Lisbon-based club level just before half-time as Pedro Goncalves matched Neves – his former housemate – in scoring from the spot.
Chances were few and far between in the second period, but both sides would have been pleased with a competitive run-out ahead of their new season.
The first opportunity of the game fell the way of Wolves’ opposition, but a familiar face among the Sporting squad in Francisco Trincao, who spent last season at Molineux on loan from Barcelona, but the winger could only fire a left-footed curler well over Jose Sa’s crossbar.
Having been denied in the final third by the assistant’s flag on a few occasions in the early stages, Wolves finally tested Franco Israel in the Sporting goal through Leander Dendoncker. After beating the offside trap, Morgan Gibbs-White raced down the right and his high looping cross fell to the onrushing Belgian, but his effort was just tipped round the post by the goalkeeper.
The opening goal of the match soon followed through controversial circumstances, as Pedro Neto was upended in the penalty area and despite Sporting’s protestations, the referee pointed to the spot. With usual penalty taker Raul Jimenez recovering from the injury he picked up out in Spain, Neves – wearing the captain’s armband- was the man to step up and fire a powerful spotkick into the back of the net, sending Israel the wrong way.
Neto continued to prove a menace to the Sporting defence, and the winger got into the box once again having turned Porro on the half-way line before running down the left and cutting inside. The Portuguese fired an effort across goal, but the green and white shirts were able to get back and block the ball behind.
Sporting believed they should have had a penalty of their own with ten minutes of the first-half remaining as Paulinho found space behind Neves and went down having felt a touch in the penalty area, but the referee did not feel there was enough in Neves’ challenge and waved away the Portuguese side’s appeals.
Moments before the break, Sporting did get a penalty. A cross into the box wasn’t dealt with at the first attempt, and Nathan Collins was penalised for a trip on Paulinho and Wolves Academy graduate Goncalves took responsibility from the spot, firing the ball to his left and beyond the fingertips of the diving Sa.
Half-time | Sporting 1-1 Wolves
Both teams came out fighting in the second period, although it was more off the ball than on it, as five players – including Rayan Ait-Nouri and Daniel Podence as well as three from the opposition – went into the referee’s notebook after heavy challenges by the Sporting players led to unsavoury reactions from those in gold and black.
When there was action on the pitch, the goalkeepers were standing up to the test. Firstly, Sa stood up well to palm a Porro effort away from danger, while Wolves went straight up the other end through Neto, but his cross towards Gibbs-White was gathered by Israel.
Unlike in the opening 45 minutes, the second-half saw little in goalmouth action with both teams struggling to break down the defences when the ball reached the final third of the pitch, however, Trincao was able to get the better of his former teammates on one occasion, but a curling effort drifted well past the upright. Neves and Goncalves also both blasted shots from the edge of the box well over the crossbar.
In his first appearance of pre-season after undergoing military service back in South Korea during the summer, Hee Chan Hwang had a good opportunity late in the game to put Wolves back in front when he was played into space by Podence over the Sporting defence, and having taken the ball wide around Israel, he attempted to spin and shoot on target, but the green and white shirts were back to clear off the goalline.
Full-time | Sporting 1-1 Wolves
Sporting | Israel, Reis, Coates, Morita, Nunes, Santos, Porro (Esgaio 78), Paulinho (Edwards 68), Trincao (Rochinha 83), Inacio, Goncalves (Fatawu 83).
Unused subs | Paulo, St Juste, Neto, Essugo, Tabata, Calai.
Wolves | Sa, Jonny, Collins, Kilman (Coady 83), Ait-Nouri (Bueno 89), Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Gibbs-White (Campbell 82), Podence, Neto (Hwang 66).
Unused subs | Smith, Boly, Mosquera, Toti, Griffiths, Ronan, Hodge, Cundle.
