Week 18 of Liga NOS was largely business as usual as the top four remained as they were after all registered victories. While Benfica, Braga and Sporting continue to do their best to keep pressure in the title race, at the moment it appears Porto are unstoppable in their quest to retain the championship.

They were very comfortable in running out 4-1 winners against Chaves on Friday night, and PortuGOAL Figure of the Week Tiquinho Soares grabbed the headlines with a predatory hat-trick to keep Sérgio Conceição’s side rolling.

FC Porto maintained their impressive form with a 4-1 win over Chaves, last Friday, to make it 19 wins from their last 20 games in all competitions, as the Primeira Liga entered the second half of the season.

Sporting de Braga led the way on the same night with a 3-0 victory versus Nacional, moments before Benfica scrambled to pinch a 1-0 win away at Vitória de Guimarães, courtesy of Haris Seferovic's winner.

Goals from Tiquinho Soares supplemented a big result for Sérgio Conceição and his table-topping Porto side against last-placed Chaves, prior to Sporting joining the gang at the top with a 2-1 win at home to Moreirense. PortuGOAL brings you the latest from the Primeira Liga title race. 

Diogo Jota is the undoubted hero of the Portuguese Abroad contingent this weekend after scoring a hat-trick – including an injury-time winner – to give Nuno Espírito Santo’s Wolverhampton Wanderers a 4-3 win over Leicester City in the Premier League.

Elsewhere, Rafael Leão’s goalscoring run continues in France, but it was substitute Xeka who got the winner as Lille came from behind to beat Amiens in Ligue 1, while on the managerial front there were defeats for Miguel Cardoso in Spain and Marco Silva in England, but Pedro Caixinha secured an important three points in Mexico.

José Mourinho has been speaking in detail for the first time since leaving Manchester United last month, and the Portuguese boss has made it clear that he is hungry to achieve more in football.

Mourinho dismissed any notion that he would consider retirement, while also indicating that he harbours a desire to manage his country, albeit not in the immediate future as he plans his return to the top level of club football.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal as Serie A champions Juventus beat AC Milan 1-0 in the Italian Super Cup in Jeddah on Wednesday evening.

Following a goalless first half, Ronaldo made the difference on the hour mark, nodding in Miralem Pjanic’s through-ball after a perfectly-timed run to score what proved the winner and secure his first trophy in the Bianconeri colours.

With many European leagues still on their winter break, the focus has largely been on some of the continent’s major countries as they navigate a packed fixture list, and as usual Portuguese involvement was strong again this weekend.

Rafael Leão is becoming an important figure with Lille in France and the Portuguese youngster was on the scoresheet again in their 3-1 win at Caen. Meanwhile, José Gomes secured his first win as Reading manager and Marco Silva got a much-needed three points at Everton, while Miguel Cardoso’s struggles at Celta Vigo continue and there was a Lazio debut for Pedro Neto.

Liga NOS officially reached the halfway point this weekend in a round of matches that was ultimately a little short on goals and excitement. Sporting and Porto weren’t able to raise pulses too high in drawing their ‘Clássico’ 0-0, a result that Benfica were able to capitalise on by beating Santa Clara 2-0.

In truth there has hardly been a plethora of candidates on the pitch for this edition of Figure of the Week, so in that sense it’s fitting that the accolade goes to a coach, new Chaves boss Tiago Fernandes registered his first league victory in charge of the team with a vital win over in-form Tondela.

Sporting 0-0 FC Porto

Sporting and FC Porto failed to go beyond a 0-0 draw in their first meeting of the 2018/19 season, as the Lions welcomed the league leaders for a rare afternoon kick-off at the Alvalade.

A very tight first-half with minimal chances set the tone for a disciplined outing from the two rivals, with the likes of Moussa Marega and Nemanja Gudelj coming close to shaking things up in the second half.

The deadlock wouldn't be broken, however, bringing to an end the Dragon's run of 18 consecutive victories and keeping Sporting eight points away from top spot at the halfway mark of the Primeira Liga season.

  1.   1 Comment
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  DC — Pertovic also came in for Sporting towards the end - that’s missing from your lineup list, fyi....

Benfica continue to benefit from the feel-good factor under interim coach Bruno Lage.

The Eagles comfortably saw off Santa Clara, winning 2-0 in the Azores and moving up to second in the standings after Braga became the latest top side to drop points against Portimonense in the Algarve, a 1-1 draw enough for the Arsenalistas to drop down to third.

PortuGOAL reports on the action and brings you the highlights from the Algarve and the Azores. 

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  jon/usa — Bruno Lage deserves a great deal of credit for managing to steady the ship after Rui Vitoria's long-overdue resignation. He's only been working with the first team for a couple of weeks, but we're already starting to see signs of his superios tactical nous. I honestly don't see why we need to go out......
  —-Z—- — Why is this even news ? Benfica beat Santa Clara? What else do you expect? They are a satellite club of benfica and even share the same symbol. At least sao miguelsshhhhhjajajhahs got to see their heroes in action since they’ll never set foot in the actual Estádio da luz .......

This weekend the Primeira Liga reaches the exact halfway stage, and the standout fixture takes place in the Portuguese capital on Saturday afternoon as Sporting Clube de Portugal host FC Porto.

A win for the visitors will almost certainly extinguish Sporting’s hopes of ending their long barren spell without winning the league for another year, while simultaneously putting the Dragons in a strong position to retain their Portuguese championship title.

PortuGOAL previews the clash of the titans at Alvalade. 

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  3. PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Tomané’s sensational strike stuns Sporting
  4. Sporting stumble as Porto strengthen lead ahead of Clássico; Benfica’s new lease of life; Braga go second
  5. FA Cup: Rúben Neves the hero as Nuno’s Wolves beat Liverpool

      

QUOTE OF THE DAY

 “I was sent off and rightly so. I had to hug him [Jota], because he came back from injury and he’s worked very hard. Every time he’s on the football pitch he gives 100 per cent and I really appreciate it.”

Nuno Espírito Santo
(Wolves coach on his celebrations following Diogo Jota's winner against Leicester)
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