“O Clássico” was the highlight on paper of Week 21 of Liga NOS, although Porto and Sporting’s encounter proved a tense 0-0 to leave the Lions in the title race driving seat. Benfica and Braga made up some ground on the pair by beating Rio Ave and Nacional respectively.
Paços Ferreira’s unbeaten run came to an end as Santa Clara swept them aside in front of an Azores crowd of spectators, while Tondela secured an important victory over Gil Vicente to climb into the top half of the table.
One team that has been stuttering of late is Vitória Guimarães but they got back on the winning trail against Boavista this weekend, they were inspired by PortuGOAL Figure of the Week Rochinha, who stepped in for the injured Ricardo Quaresma to decisive effect.
Diogo Costa Filipe Rocha, more commonly referred to simply as ‘Rochinha’, bounced around academies and youth setups in Portugal early in his career, being on the books of Porto, Boavista and Benfica. He made the step up to the latter’s B team back in 2014 but was unable to threaten a place with the seniors in Lisbon. Spells with Bolton Wanderers and Standard Liège followed before returning to home shores with Boavista once more, where he began to catch the eye. Most notably he was a standout of the Panteras side that finished 8th in 2018/19, albeit Rochinha was poached halfway through the campaign by his current side Vitória Guimarães.
His solid technical ability and versatility on the pitch were key factors in Vitória adding the 25 year old to their setup and he has proven both with reasonable consistency in his two years with the team. Equally comfortable on either flank or in central attacking midfield, Rochinha has even filled in at more diverse posts such as false nine or full-back.
It is the aforementioned wing positions though that arguably he is at his best and his form has even managed to keep the supremely talented Marcus Edwards warming the bench in recent matches. For Friday’s contest with Boavista though it was Rochinha and Edwards in support of lead striker Óscar Estupiñán, the pair helping to cover for an injured Ricardo Quaresma.
Rochinha and co. would have to quickly step up their game as Boavista took an early lead through Ricardo Mangas. Estupiñán was proving profligate in attack, and Edwards was also frustrated in front of goal, being denied by Léo Jardim in the 33rd minute after being well found by Rochinha.
With seven minutes of the half remaining Vitória got the equaliser their pressure deserved, and in some style too. Good buildup work from André Almeida and Estupiñán saw the pair eventually find Rochinha, who set himself before unleashing a superb curling strike that beat Jardim at the far post to score against his old club.
The scores remained level at the break but just before the hour mark in the second period Rochinha was instrumental once more in helping Vitória to another goal. His chipped effort from the edge of the box was adjudged to have been blocked illegally by Mangas, and André André converted the resulting penalty.
The captain’s strike would prove the winning goal for the home side, who in truth could have won by a bigger margin if Estupiñán’s finishing was more dialled in, in particular the Colombian striker passing up an opportunity to find Rochinha for what would have surely been a second for the Portuguese in the 82nd minute.
Nonetheless the game was always going to be about the result above all for Vitória, who had gone into the contest on a run of five matches without victory. The three points saw them close the gap on Paços Ferreira in the race for fifth place in Liga NOS.
A team of Vitória’s quality should be aiming for fifth spot as a standard in terms of domestic expectations, looking to return to the Europa League having been in the competition’s group phase last season. The fact that a player of Rochinha’s quality does not find himself as a regular in the XI is an indicator of the depth advantage that they have over the sides in their bracket.
He may not get the headlines that Edwards and Quaresma command but neither player’s goal contributions this season exceed that of Rochinha, who continues to fly under the radar to quiet yet efficient effect.
By Jamie Farr
