Braga and Vitória close in on Europa Group stage, Olympiakos thrash Krasnodar

Minho rivals Braga and Vitória Guimarães both gained a slight advantage after the first legs of their playoff ties. Sá Pinto’s Braga put in a controlled performance against Russian big guns Spartak Moscow and were good value for a 1-0 victory at the Quarry thanks to Ricardo Horta’s second-half strike, while Vitória will be satisfied to come back from Romania with a goalless draw against FCSB.

As for Portuguese interest elsewhere, Olympiacos were the standout performers, crushing Porto’s nemesis Krasnodar 4-0 in Athens to virtually book their place in the Champions League proper, with Daniel Podence rounding off the scoring. It was another good night in Europe for Wolves, who beat Torino 3-2 in Italy with Diogo Jota finding the net, while things get better and better for Jorge Jesus in Brazil.

 

Braga 1-0 Spartak Moscow

Braga coach Sá Pinto said before the match that a good result would be to score and not to concede and that is exactly what transpired on a hot and humid night in the north of Portugal.  

Spartak Moscow are usually to be seen competing in the Champions League, and the hosts knew a gung-ho approach could be costly against such experienced European campaigners. Nevertheless, it was Braga who were on top for most of the 90 minutes. The first chance fell to Palhinha midway through the first half, the midfielder’s stooping header bringing a sharp save out of Spartak goalkeeper Maksimenko.

The Russians rarely threatened the Braga goal. A couple of long shots either side of half time, one which whistled wide the other stinging Matheus’s fingers, were the best the visitors could muster.

The Portuguese side intensified the pressure in the last half hour and were rewarded when the alert Ricardo Horta slid in to score from an acute angle in the 74th minute. It could have been even better for Braga with João Novais going very close on two occasions with trademark power-drivers from outside the box, and Paulinho also sent a fierce shot whistling inches past the post.

It won’t be easy for Braga in Moscow, but the Guerreiros have given themselves a good shot at reaching the group stage.

 

FCSB 0-0 Vitória Guimarães

Vitória have now played five games in Europe this season and are yet to concede a goal. It was another highly competent performance from the defensive point of view by Ivo Vieira’s side, although the Madeiran coach will be disappointed at his team’s lack of attacking production on the night.

In a game of very few chances it was the hosts who came closest to scoring with the very first of them, a 15-yard daisy-cutter by Florinel Coman beating Douglas but bouncing back into play off the post.

The same player was then through on goal but his shot was straight at the Brazilian goalkeeper who grasped it at the second attempt.

There was even less action in the second half, although Vitória appealed strongly for a penalty when Rochinha appeared to be tugged back in the box, but the referee waved play on.

On this evidence Vitória have nothing to fear from the Romanian side with such a prestigious past (European Cup winners in 1986) and will be optimistic about finishing the job at the Dom Afonso Henriques next week.

 

Champions League: Podence stars as Olympiakos run riot

One of the standout results across this week’s European action saw Krasnodar’s luck against Portuguese run out as Porto’s conquerors were soundly dispatched by Pedro Martins’ Olympiakos in Greece. Daniel Podence was among the star performers as the hosts ran out 4-0 winners to all but book their place in the Champions League group phase.

Former Vitória Guimarães boss Martins started with his influential Portuguese trio of goalkeeper José Sá, defender Rúben Semedo and midfielder Podence for what was expected to be a closely fought tie against the dangerous Russians.

Olympiakos led 1-0 up until the 78th minute through a beautiful curling shot from Spanish striker Guerrero on the half hour mark, before a late flurry took the game away from the visitors. Krasnodar’s ambition to get an equaliser left them exposed to the counter attack and a smart break from Olympiakos led to Lazar Randelovic making it 2-0.

Former Sporting midfielder Podence, who went close in the first half with a low shot after some beautiful footwork, began to exert more influence in the closing stages. First, the 23-year-old laid the ball off for Randelovic to get his second (85’) before Podence rounded off the scoring with a sumptuously deft finish with around a minute to play.

Podence was substituted to a joyous ovation, with many feeling the job of securing a place in the group phase is almost done. However, Martins refused to get carried away with such a concept during his post-match interview, citing Krasnodar’s exploits in Portugal earlier this month as evidence that nothing should be taken for granted.

“It's not over yet,” he said. “Krasnodar lost at home to Porto, but away you saw what they did. They could even have ended up scoring a fourth goal in Portugal. We must really keep this in our minds. We must continue with the same tactic and efficiency. We’re not going to make it easier for our opponent by believing that everything is decided.”

Having enjoyed some of his best results as Olympiakos manager in European football, Martins was asked by a journalist what represented his “magic wand” to help improve the club’s fortunes in continental competition. “It’s work, not a magic wand,” he replied. “Work is what brings the results. All the players are dedicated and committed to doing what they need to do, we prepare the matches well and this is how the results appear.

“Olympiakos is difficult for any opponent to deal with, especially at home. The important thing is that we start our matches with intensity and this is something we have to keep so as to get good results. We are happy to have formed this set of players and we prepare our matches in the best possible way.”

Elsewhere in the Champions League playoffs, APOEL of Cyprus caused somewhat of a surprise by holding Dutch giants Ajax to a goalless draw at home. APOEL started with former Tondela defender Joãozinho for the draw, before he was replaced with André Vidigal for the closing stages. Bruno Varela was substitute goalkeeper for Ajax.

Another former Tondela man, striker Tomané, was introduced on 77 minutes by Red Star Belgrade as the Serbians earned a positive 2-2 draw at Young Boys in Switzerland. Less good news for CFR Cluj's Camora and Luís Aurélio however, with the Portuguese duo starting as the Romanians lost 1-0 at home to Slavia Prague.

 

Europa League: Jota on target as Wolves impress in Italy; defeats for Abel, Cardoso

Wolverhampton Wanderers took a huge step towards the group phase of the Europa League with a superb 3-2 win over Torino in Italy. Portuguese forward Diogo Jota scored the second for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side, who are hoping to end a 39-year wait to participate in full European competition.

Nuno sprang a surprise in his starting line-up, opting to rest Ruben Neves after the former Porto midfielder’s wondergoal against Manchester United on Monday evening. Rui Patrício and João Moutinho kept their places, as did Jota, while Rúben Vinagre was drafted in at left wing-back and Pedro Neto joined Neves on the bench.

The early stages saw Jota waste a good opportunity for Wolves while Nicolas N’Koulou’s header rattled the crossbar for the Serie A side, before the opening goal to put the visitors ahead came two minutes before half time. Moutinho’s in-swinging free-kick was glanced into his own net by Torino’s Brazilian defender Bremer, giving Nuno’s side the lead after a first period in which Wolves largely looked to soak up pressure.

Jota doubled the advantage in the 59th minute with a simple finish after good set-up play from Spanish winger Adama Traore, who terrorised the Torino defence from the right side.  Torino fought back and halved the deficit almost immediately through Lorenzo De Silvestri’s back-post header, but former Benfica striker Raul Jimenez made it 3-1 to Wolves with a superb individual strike not long after Neto had replaced Jota.

Andrea Belotti made it 3-2 with a minute left to give the Italians some hope, but Nuno’s men left the field delighted with their showing and the former Porto coach insisted there will be no let-up ahead of the return meeting. “It’s far from being over, it’s a close tie,” he said. “We have to play next week against a very, very tough and a very good team.

“We played good, we were organised, we stayed in shape, we produced some goals but, like I say, there’s still one game to go and we have to be really, really good to perform again against a very, very good team.”

 

Greek-based bosses suffer setbacks

Portuguese bosses Miguel Cardoso and Abel Ferreira both suffered Europa League play-off first-leg defeats with AEK Athens and PAOK losing the opening matches of their ties against Trabzonspor and Slovan Bratislava respectively.

The more damaging of the losses came for Cardoso’s AEK, who hosted Turkish side Trabzonspor in the Greek capital. Cardoso’s side had their home advantage wiped out with the match played in an empty stadium as punishment for crowd behaviour during a match with Ajax last year.

The former Rio Ave tactician selected Paulinho, Hélder Lopes, André Simões, David Simão, and Nélson Oliveira in his starting line-up, and things got off to the perfect start when Mark Livaja converted a cut-back from Lopes to put AEK into the lead after just three minutes.

However, a double from Caleb Ekuban had Trabzon 2-1 up at half time and the visitors, with veteran João Pereira at right-back, ran out 3-1 winners when Ghanaian Ekuban sealed his hat-trick. “I thought that we were good in the first half, we had opportunities to score the second goal,” Cardoso said after the match.

“However, during the second half, there were moments when we lost our focus and started to lose the ball. The opponents took full advantage. We must search for stability, instead of constantly having ups and downs. We must learn how to manage games. In the second half, we tried to attack faster than we needed to, in turn losing the ball and our balance. Our balance must improve.

“I have spoken to the players, and no one is happy at all,” continued the Portuguese manager. “Most importantly, we have another match in 72 hours’ time and we must be ready. Don’t expect me to lose energy. Tomorrow, we must have new energy for the upcoming game. How can we improve? It’s important to remember that there are 90 minutes remaining in this tie, even though I perfectly understand the difficulty of our situation.”

Less concern perhaps for Abel as PAOK’s 1-0 defeat to Slovan Bratislava appears more salvageable, despite the blow of conceding to a 94th-minute winner in Slovakia. “We knew that Slovan are a good counter-attacking team, but we contrived to concede a goal,” said the ex-Braga coach. “We had four great chances to score in the second half. In the end, it’s a real shame to concede in the final minute, but nothing is over. We must start taking advantage of the opportunities which we create.”

 

Europa round-up

There were plenty of Portuguese participants in the other Europa League play-off first legs on Thursday evening, with the most eye-catching story seeing former Benfica defender Bruta receiving a costly red card in Antwerp’s 1-1 draw at AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands. Bruta was dismissed for two bookable offence on 72 minutes while his side led 1-0 but the Belgians, who also fielded Ivo Rodrigues, will no doubt be content with the score draw.

Bruma missed PSV’s home match with Cypriots Apollon, who started former Naval midfielder João Pedro, but the Dutch side managed well in his absence with a 3-0 home win. Fellow Eredivisie side Feyenoord saw off Israeli outfit Hapoel Be’er Sheva by the same scoreline on home soil, with Edgar Ié making his European debut for the Rotterdam club while Miguel Vítor played in central defence for the visitors.

Elsewhere, Gonçalo Paciência was introduced as a half-time substitute in Frankfurt’s 1-0 defeat at Strasbourg in France, leaving the Bundesliga side with a strong performance needed in Germany, while Portuguese trio Luís Rocha, André Martins and Cafú were all selected by Legia Warsaw for a goalless draw at home with Rangers. Finally, ex- Famalicão defender Angelo played for Ararat-Armenia in their 2-1 win over F91 Dudelange.

 

Cavaleiro at the double as Jesus goes from strength to strength in Brazil

Ivan Cavaleiro followed up his first goal for Fulham last week by bagging a brace in their 4-0 South London derby win over Millwall. The winger, who joined Fulham on-loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer, got his first with a wonderful shot high into the top corner from an angle, while his second saw the former Benfica man round the goalkeeper having latched onto a long pass from midfield.

Also in the Championship, José Gomes and Reading came close to causing an upset away at West Bromwich Albion, but ultimately had to settle for a 1-1 draw following a late penalty at the Hawthorns. Gomes brought Lucas João on during the second half while goalkeeper João Virginia was on the bench. Early table-toppers Leeds United had Hélder Costa to thank after the winger came off the bench to assist the late winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Brentford.

Elsewhere concerning Portuguese bosses, the story of Jorge Jesus in Brazil is developing into somewhat of a revelation. The former Braga, Benfica and Sporting manager led Flamengo to a 2-0 win over Internacional in the first leg of their Copa Libertadores quarter-final, thanks to a late brace from Bruno Henrique (pictured) at the Maracanã. Jesus is enjoying some fine form in Brazil, with the victory coming after impressive back-to-back wins in the league which have put the Rio de Janeiro side in the hunt for the title.

In Asia, there was disappointment for Vítor Pereira in China as his Shanghai SPIG were knocked out of the FA Cup 2-0 at home by 10-man Shandong Luneng, who had a player sent off just before half time. The opening round of matches in Qatar saw Rui Faria’s Al Duhail get off to a winning start with a 2-1 win at Qatar SC.

 

By Tom Kundert and Sean Gillen