Portuguese forward Hernâni opened his account for Spanish side Levante on Tuesday night with a brilliantly taken strike, but the goal came in defeat at William Carvalho’s Real Betis. Elsewhere in Spain, Granada and Portuguese duo Rui Silva and Domingos Duarte are temporarily back on top, while Nélson Semedo kept his place as Barcelona returned to winning ways.
Leonardo Jardim praised his players following their first Ligue 1 win of the season in the derby with Nice in France. In England, the League Cup takes centre stage and there was a goal for Cédric Soares, a full debut for João Cancelo and a sparkling display from youngster Domingos Quina on a lively night for Portuguese.
SPAIN:
Hernânii’s first goal since leaving FC Porto for La Liga over the summer came during an impressive display from the forward. The 28-year-old put his new team 1-0 up away at Real Betis after just seven minutes of play, latching onto a long ball and beating Joel Robles with a superb left-foot finish. Betis, who had William Carvalho back from suspension, recovered to win the game 3-1 in what turned out to be a comfortable win.
After the match, Levante coach Paco Lopes was asked about Hernâni's performance. “We are very happy with Hernâni. It was not easy but we wanted that consistency in matches. He knows that he has some room for improvement in some areas but he is a very valuable player for us and he showed that tonight.”
Barcelona got back to winning ways after their weekend defeat to Granada, with Nélson Semedo keeping his place in defence for a 2-1 win over Villarreal at Camp Nou. The former Benfica right-back was strongly criticised in the Spanish press after the loss on Saturday, but coach Ernesto Valverde retained faith in Semedo who played the full 90 minutes and was strong in possession.
Granada went back to the top of La Liga with a 1-1 draw at Real Valladolid. Portuguese duo Rui Silva and Domingos Duarte were both in the thick of the action, with goalkeeper Silva making a crucial second-half save to deny Valladolid’s Enes Unal, while Duarte’s unfortunate positioning meant Granada had a goal disallowed due to off the ball offside interference.
FRANCE: Jardim’s Monaco secure big win: “It’s unfortunate the season doesn’t start tonight”
Monaco finally got their first win of the season in Ligue 1 after beating French Riviere rivals Nice 3-1 at the Stade Louis II. Russian midfielder Alekansdr Golovin scored a brace before laying on the third for Wissam Ben Yedder to lift Jardim’s side out of the relegation places and give renewed hope ahead of the remainder of the campaign.
“Unfortunately the season does not start tonight,” Jardim said after the match. “The team played a great game with a lot of unity for the full 90 minutes, I think we controlled the game. I'm happy for the players.
“It's important, it's our first win. We know our values, we are a developing football team. We're keeping calm and we will continue to work.”
Portuguese forward Gelson Martins played the full ninety minutes, but Gil Dias was replaced at half time, while midfielder Adrien Silva was afforded just the final minutes. Speaking about his squad, Jardim stressed that all players have a role to play.
“Gil Dias played very well against Reims, Gelson also against Strasbourg. It's important to keep everyone in the squad onside, so that everyone is motivated. We do not have a large squad but one with many qualities.
"I think we have a lot of quality players in midfield like Tiemoué, Fabregas, Golovin and Adrien. We must take care of these players. I rely on them a lot.
“Winning is always motivating, that's how football is. In pre-season when you win it does not earn you points. We are in control of the matches more and more. The players are progressing, Saturday must continue in this direction.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, André Villas Boas’ Marseille moved up to 3rd place after they were held to a goalless draw at Dijon. "We did not play well good football today, we were too slow, a bit nervous too, I think, we lost balls, we did not play with confidence,” the former Porto boss said. “We missed some good opportunities in the first half, which we edged, but we didn’t play well and did not have control.”
ENGLAND: Cédric on target
The League Cup takes place this midweek in England and Portugal right-back Cédric Soares scored his first goal in almost ten months for Southampton on Tuesday. The Saints travelled to arch rivals Portsmouth – now in the third tier – and the visitors ran out comfortable 4-0 winners with Cédric getting the third goal of the evening.
Cédric arrived in the penalty area to fire home from close range following good work from two-goal striker Danny Ings. It was Cédric’s first goal since a memorable free-kick for Southampton against Manchester United last December, in what proved to be one of Jose Mourinho’s last matches in charge of United.
Elsewhere during the 3rd round action, João Cancelo was issued his first start for Manchester City in their 4-0 win at Preston North End, with Manchester Evening News assessing that there were “not as many of those rampaging flanking runs as the fans would like, but there was little wrong with his first start”. Watford recovered from their weekend hammering by City by overcoming Swansea City 2-1 at home, in a match which saw young midfielder Domingos Quina earn strong reviews for his showing.
By Sean Gillen
