A typically eventful evening for Portuguese on Wednesday evening, with players making headlines for varying reasons. Cristiano Ronaldo scored again to help Juventus beat Paulo Fonseca’s Roma in the Coppa Italia, while Ricardo Pereira was also on the scoresheet for Leicester City in England.

However, there was a less positive story in Greece as Rúben Semedo was sent off towards the end of Olympiacos’ win against OFI after a physical confrontation with a ball boy resulted in the defender dismissed for violent conduct.

Sporting and Vitória ousted in semi-finals

One week after the two teams met in the Primeira Liga (Braga winning at the Dragão), northern rivals Porto and Braga will go head to head again to decide who lifts the 2019/20 Portuguese League Cup.

Braga, who are hosting the final four stage of the tournament, beat Sporting 2-1 on Tuesday thanks to a last-minute Paulinho goal.

Tonight, Porto beat Vitória Guimarães by the same scoreline, but not without more late drama as Ivo Vieira’s side thought they had equalised in the 95th minute, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR. 

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  Joao — Braga are such a despicable team, two men more and they go into the corner and waste time how completely insulting to everyone watching that game. Porto or Benfica would've given Sporting respect and gone after the 3-1 but Braga is a club with no respect for football and is easily the team in the le......

Lyon 2-2 Lille (4-3 on pens)

It was an eventful night for Portugal’s Renato Sanches in the French Coupe de la Ligue semi-final on Tuesday evening, with the midfielder scoring a superb goal for Lille and helping create another, before cruelly missing the final penalty in the shootout as Lyon progressed.

In what will be the final edition of the competition, the sides met at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium to decide who would meet either Rennes or Paris Saint-Germain in the final next month. While the hosts dropped Anthony Lopes for cup goalkeeper Ciprian Tătărușanu, Lille selected vice-captain José Fonte in their line-up alongside Sanches, with Xeka and Tiago Djaló having to settle for places on the sidelines.

Liga NOS 2019/20 officially reached the halfway point in a dramatic weekend of action. Sporting lost the Lisbon derby against Benfica in what could be captain Bruno Fernandes’ final game for the club, while Porto lost ground on the defending champions as Braga stunned them at Estádio do Dragão, all taking place on Friday night.

However there was also a significant clash at the opposite end of the table as bottom two sides Aves and Portimonense battled it out. The former ended the match in triumph and saw a standout performance from a young rising star in Portugal, 21 year old Zidane Banjaqui, who is the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week.

Cristiano Ronaldo made it six goals in three games since the turn of the year with a match-winning brace as Juventus beat Parma 2-1 to extend their lead at the top of Serie A.

Ronaldo scored in each half, either side of Andreas Cornelius’ equaliser for Parma, who were captained by veteran former Seleção defender Bruno Alves. His latest double means Ronaldo now has 16 league goals from just 17 appearances in Italy’s top flight.

A remarkable afternoon in Greek football saw three different Portuguese players find the net in AEK Athens’ 3-0 victory over Larissa, with Seleção international Nélson Oliveira among the scorers in the capital on Sunday.

Midfielder and AEK vice-captain André Simões opened the scoring while former Paços de Ferreira defender Hélder Lopes registered his first goal of the season, as AEK strengthened their position in 3rd place in the Super League.

Southampton 2-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Pedro Neto is enjoying a fine run of form with Wolverhampton Wanderers in England, and the Portuguese youngster was the catalyst for his side producing an impressive second-half comeback to win at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.

Wolves trailed 2-0 to Southampton at half time but Neto’s goal early in the second period instigated a recovery, completed by a brace from ex-Benfica striker Raul Jimenez. The result lifted Wolves up to 6th place in the Premier League and delighted Portuguese boss Nuno Espírito Santo.

Benfica have opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the Primeira Liga table with a 2-0 derby win over Sporting, taking advantage of FC Porto’s earlier loss versus Sporting de Braga at home on Friday night.

Having threatened to overturn a one-goal deficit at the Estádio do Dragão, a late blow from Paulinho earned Braga all three points in a 2-1 victory for Rúben Amorim’s men.

More late drama back in Lisbon powered Benfica onto a 14th consecutive league victory, with Rafa Silva getting his name to both goals in a 2-0 triumph over bitter rivals Sporting. Here's how Friday's Primeira Liga double-header unfolded.

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  Johan/Netherlands — Brilliant, what a day it was for Benfica ! I caught myself looking at that 7 point gap with Porto several times, with a grin.... This must result in the 6th title in 7 years, what a luxury. Of course, many matches to come, but Porto don't look too confident and consistent. Will Conceicao be sacked ?......
  jon/usa — While a quick glance at the post game statistics would suggest an evenly balanced, tense affair, I would argue that the 2-0 scoreline more than reflected what took place on the pitch. Apart from the final 10 or so minutes of the first half and the first 10-15 minutes of the second, Benfica were in c......
  Andre/UK — Massive derbi win for Benfica, and with Braga also winning in Porto, we now have some real breathing space on top of the league. Perfect night indeed for Benfica! Great to have Rafa back, he's like a new January signing and didn't take any time at all to make an instant impact. I always thought Rafa......

Crucial double-header in Portuguese title race

Portugal is bracing itself for some atrocious weather conditions over the next few days, and Friday night could prove a stormy affair in the Primeira Liga, with potential for a heavy influence on the outcome of this season’s title race.

At 7.00pm Porto welcome Braga to the Estádio do Dragão. Soon after the final whistle sounds in the north, the Lisbon derby will kick off as Sporting host league leaders Benfica. Four points currently separate the top two. Will that be the case by the end of tomorrow night? PortuGOAL previews what promises to be an exciting night of football. 

Portuguese midfielder Gedson Fernandes has signed an 18-month loan deal with Tottenham Hotspur, joining from Benfica until 2021 with a view to a permanent move.

The Seleção international will wear the no 30 shirt for the North London club, where he will find compatriot José Mourinho as his new boss, and told the club’s website he was delighted to be making the switch to the Premier League.

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  Tony — Gedson is an overrated young Portuguese talent who at 21 who has not demonstrated any consistent qualities to be a world class player. He was a major disappointment at the U-20 WC giving up the ball cheaply and lacking any impact at acompetition where if he is anything special he should perform. H......
  Brian/RI/USA — Let's see how it goes. He's a young man, that'll need to produce for an up and coming team in the EPL. We've seen it's not the easiest transition. Also Mourinho's track record of developing young talent isn't that great. We'll see where Fernandes is in 3-4 years when Mourinho has gone onto his next......
  Dhazer — It's great to see another Portuguese youth prospect playing in the English Premier League. How much is he going to cost when Tottenham decides to sign him permanently?...

More Articles ...

  1. PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Corona conjures some magic to seal Porto victory
  2. FRANCE: Gelson Martins stars against PSG as Villas-Boas’ "lucky" Marseille close gap
  3. ITALY: Fonseca “proud” of Roma as Ronaldo penalty helps Juventus to victory
  4. GREECE: Vieirinha pen gives PAOK win over AEK; Martins’ Olympiacos hit five [video]
  5. Benfica lead series of hard-earned wins for FC Porto, Sporting and Famalicão

      

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