Jovane Cabral is the first winner of the Próxima Jornada Player of the Month award for his fantastic performances during the month of June.
The Cape Verdean man exploded into life in June, the first month of Primeira Liga football after the COVID-19 enforced break. In a run of four games, he scored five goals, including two free-kicks and provided one assist.
Flourishing under Amorim
Earlier in the season, the 22-year-old attacker suffered from a hip injury, depriving of him of game time as Sporting struggled along in Liga NOS. Silas gave him his first starts of the season against Boavista and then Famalicão 10 days later. Rúben Amorim took charge at the José Alvalade shortly after and identified Jovane Cabral as a key component of the youthful side he was attempting to build. League football returned for Sporting on the fourth of June against Vitória SC, Cabral played the full 90 minutes, getting an assist in a 2-2 draw.
In the match against Paços de Ferreira, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Pepa’s men with a phenomenal free-kick. Minutes before the end of the match he smashed the crossbar, coming agonisingly close to making it two for him and two for Sporting.
The following match v Tondela, it was more of the same for Jovane. He smashed home another excellent free-kick, again putting Sporting into a 1-0 lead. Aside from the goal he was a constant menace to the Tondela defence, completing 100% of his dribbled (6/6), completing 93% of his passes as well as winning a whopping 13 ground duels.
His last game of the month came against Belenenses SAD, this time out he hit the back of the net twice, scoring Sporting’s crucial second to put them 2-1 up, then scoring the third of the match to kill off the contest. His first of the afternoon was an absolutely fantastic goal, showcasing his technique and with an acrobatic volley.
His month didn’t end perfectly however, he went off injured at half-time in the match with Belenenses SAD. However, he is now back fit and will be hoping to make a similar impact in July to the one he made in June as the Primeira Liga season draws to a close.
Aaron Barton (@ProximaJornada1)
