ISL Player of the Week – Round 8: Simao Sabrosa

Simao Sabrosa is our ISL Player of the Week for Round 8

NorthEast United have had to battle a lot of adversity so far this season and are underestimated by a lot of their rivals because they are the youngest team around and have faced major injury issues. The team though have kept working despite all that and have shown great grit and determination to improve their results.

Amidst the loss of key players such as Miguel Garcia and Kondwani Mtonga due to injuries, the team has rallied around the presence of marquee player Simao Sabrosa. The Portuguese winger has helped the team with his experience, both on and off the field, and has added some much needed composure to their play.

The team from Guwahati have struggled to score goals and Simao’s excellence from dead ball situations and nerves of steel from the penalty spot have helped a great deal. The veteran winger has scored a goal in 3 out of the 4 matches NorthEast United have got a positive result in, indicating how crucial those goals have been.

Needing good results from their matches last week, NorthEast visited the national capital Delhi in search of all 3 points and started the match very well. They created chance after chance in the first half but their profligacy in front of goal ensured that they couldn’t break the deadlock.

Instead, against the run of play, Delhi took the lead through Gadze. The away side tried their best to get back in the game before the break, but couldn’t do so. They started the second half quite brightly as well, but remained unable to make their dominance count, despite going close through Dadzie and Silas.

Soon, the team from the NorthEast got another chance to try and equalise when they were awarded a free-kick outside the box. Manager Cesar Farias took the chance to send on his marquee player Simao and he stepped up to take the free-kick.

The result was a thing of beauty as the former Portuguese international curled the ball away from Delhi goalkeeper Doblas and into the back of the net. He had leveled the scores and brought his team back into the match with his first touch of the match, helping them secure a 1-1 draw.

The second match of the week saw NorthEast visit Kolkata to take on defending champions Atletico. The away team showed great resilience and intent and were deserving 1-0 winners in an encounter that they controlled well.

Named in the starting XI for this match, Simao calmly converted his penalty in the 7th minute after Nato was adjudged to have fouled Lopez in the box. Though the decision was debatable, there was nothing debatable about the penalty kick, as Sabrosa made sure the goalkeeper had no chance.

Simao's penalty against Atletico de Kolkata gave his team a much-needed win

The remainder of the match saw NorthEast play on the counter and protect their lead while Atletico did their best to try and get an equaliser. The away side executed ther gameplan perfectly and finished the week with 4 points from 2 matches, a great haul considering they had to play 2 tough away games.

What made Simao’s contributions invaluable was the fact that he stepped up at just the right time for his team and has looked very confident while on the pitch. He has overcome his injury troubles to be fit for NorthEast’s matches and could very well be the guy who spurs them on to play better and finish higher up the table.

His game management skills, along with big match temperament are of great help while interacting with young players in his team. It remains to be seen whether he can help take them to the semi-finals but his presence has definitely added a lot already.

For his season saving goals last week, Simao is our Player of the Week.