Rui Borges claimed "football is sometimes thankless" after conceding the Primeira Liga title race became more complicated after Sporting CP lost to Benfica on Sunday.

Luis Suarez saw a 19th-minute penalty saved before Andreas Schjelderup converted from 12 yards at the other end eight minutes later, though Sporting fought back.

They equalised through Hidemasa Morita – who gave away the Benfica penalty – in the 72nd minute and thought they had won it through Rafael Nel in the first minute of stoppage time, though he was denied by the offside flag.

Moments later, Rafa went up the other end to bundle in what turned out to be the winner and secure three points that took them above Sporting and into second in the table.

Porto followed that result with a 2-0 win later in the day, meaning Benfica sit seven points behind the league leaders, while Sporting are eight points off the top, with a game in hand.

And following the defeat, Sporting's chances of winning their third straight title have dropped to 2.7%, according to the Opta supercomputer, with Porto the favourites at 97.1% (Benfica – 0.2%).

"It's the cruelty of the game, that's football," Borges said. "It's part of it. We have to be cold and understand that some days it's one-way, other days it's the other.

"Above all, I'm happy with what the team was able to do throughout the game. We started the game very well. We got a little uneasy, perhaps after what happened in the game. We missed a penalty; Benfica scored from a penalty.

"In the second half, we started very well, we wanted to win from the beginning, we had more of the ball, we paid the price for the desire to win, for wanting to press after the fatigue. I couldn't ask for more from the team.

"Football is sometimes thankless, but I'm very happy with what the team was capable of."

Benfica, meanwhile, remain the only unbeaten side still in the Primeira Liga, having gone without defeat in all 30 matches of their season so far.

It is their longest such run from the beginning of a campaign since 1977-78, when they finished the season without defeat, but lost out on the title to Porto.

Jose Mourinho also remains undefeated against Sporting across eight meetings (W5 D3).

The 63-year-old had ruled Benfica out of the title race after their 1-1 draw with Casa Pia on April 6, and he remained hesitant to go back on that statement, despite their league position.

"We continue to depend on the results of others," Mourinho said of the title race.

"My frustration at Casa Pia was because we lost the situation of depending on ourselves. I wanted to come here, play to win and be second.

"We came here to play to win, we won, but we continue to depend on Sporting's results, not to mention FC Porto, which is a significant advantage."