Sporting beat Vitoria to Lift the Portuguese title

Sporting CP were crowned champions of Portugal for the 21st time on Saturday, after defeating Vitoria Guimaraes 2-0 in their final Primeira Liga match. The victory secured back-to-back league titles for Sporting for the first time since their dominant era from 1951 to 1954.

Pedro Goncalves broke the deadlock for the defending champions in the 55th minute, before Viktor Gyokeres sealed the crucial three points with a late strike, his 39th league goal of the season. Sporting finished the campaign atop the standings with 82 points.

Their closest rivals, Benfica, were simultaneously held to a 1-1 draw away at 10-man Sporting Braga. This result left Benfica on 80 points, two behind the newly crowned champions. Sporting CP and Benfica had drawn 1-1 the previous weekend, remaining level on points. However, Sporting’s 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture in December gave them a crucial head-to-head advantage, meaning they only needed to match Benfica’s result on the final day to retain the title.

In the decisive match against Vitoria Guimaraes, Sporting, playing without their suspended captain Morten Hjulmand, were the more assertive side in the first half but were initially frustrated by Vitoria goalkeeper Bruno Varela, who made notable saves from Gyokeres and Francisco Trincao.

The breakthrough came ten minutes into the second half when Zeno Debast’s low cross was teed up by Maximiliano Araujo for Pedro Goncalves, who struck the ball first time, sending it in off the left post. Sporting’s Geny Catamo then hit the post before Viktor Gyokeres, the league’s leading scorer, secured the win and the title eight minutes from fulltime with a low strike into the bottom right corner. The Swedish striker currently leads the European Golden Boot standings.

Meanwhile, Benfica’s slim hopes of clinching their 39th championship faded at Braga. They fell behind in the 24th minute when Rodrigo Zalazar converted a penalty for Braga, awarded after a lengthy VAR review confirmed a foul by Benfica defender Tomas Araujo on Ricardo Horta.

Vangelis Pavlidis equalised for Benfica after the hour mark from an Angel Di Maria pass. Braga were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute when midfielder Joao Moutinho received a second yellow card, but Benfica could not find a winning goal.

Sporting CP and Benfica are set to meet again in the Portuguese Cup final on May 25, 2025.

In other final day outcomes, Boavista and Farense were relegated from the Primeira Liga. Sixteenth-placed AVS will face Vizela, who finished third in the second tier, in a relegation/promotion play-off.