We were a small but respectable team that deserved more from ….

Luis Silva, assistant coach of Estrela da Amadora, in a flash interview with Sport TV, after the defeat at home to Sporting ( 1-0 ), in the 29th round of the League:

Bitter taste

It was a difficult game against a very strong team that has demonstrated this throughout the championship. We fought selflessly, within our strategy. We managed to control a large part of Sporting’s actions, which created many dangerous chances, but that didn’t happen today. We deserve credit for that. We conceded a goal when we were down to ten men. The result boils down to the goal we conceded.

Estrela corrected the situation after Sporting played through balls in the opening minutes.

The ball would get between the lines, but then, with the back five, we managed to control what happened next. We didn’t let Sporting create many dangerous situations. We had one or two chances in the first half that, if we had been more clinical, we could have surprised Sporting. In the second half, we were a small but dignified team that deserved more from the game.

Tough games ahead.

Every game has a story. We’re taking it game by game; that’s how we got here and that’s how it’s going to be until the end. We don’t look at the league positions. I’d already compare the results from the first leg against these teams, when we got eight points. We have to keep working, with balance, correct what we need to correct, repeat and improve today’s performance. It was a shame we didn’t get any points, because the team deserved it, the Estrela players understood the game plan. We greatly respect everyone’s objectives and we hope they will also respect our objectives and the way we work every day. I believe we will achieve our goals.