The tough relegation battle in the Portuguese Primeira Liga continues. It is fair to say half of the league is threatened with relegation to the Segunda Liga, with just 5 points separating the bottom nine clubs in the 18-team league. We take a statistical dive into last weekend’s games involving the endangered teams, and look ahead to the next round, which again contains some crunch matches.
The biggest leap forward in Round 22 was achieved by Boavista, who said goodbye to last place with a 3-0 win over Famalicão. Portimonense also managed to kick free of the drop zone with the 3-0 win over Tondela. We look at how the games of the relegation candidates went and analyse the matches based on the live trends and statistics from overlyzer.com.
Boavista climb four places
For Boavista the home game against last season’s surprise package, Famalicao, was a happy affair. After a tense beginning, Ricardo Mangas put the team from Porto in the lead. A physical game with a low technical level ensued, in which both teams had their chances. But it was only after a slow start in the second half that the second goal came: Paulinho scored to make it 2-0 to Boavista and the red card for Famalicão’s Manuel Ugarte ten minutes later ended the visitors’ chances of a comeback. Sebastián Pérez scoring in stoppage time to make it 3-0 was ultimately just a bonus.
Tondela remains the worst away team
Portimonense was also able to gain a bit of breathing space with a 3-0 win. Tondela, although tenth of the table, have accumulated a measly one point out of eleven away games this season. With this away record, it may be even difficult for the green and yellows, especially as their remaining home games include the visits of Sporting, Porto and Benfica. Two goals from Beto, one of them a brilliant overhead kick on the run, and another goal from Aylton Boa Morte gave Portimonense a clear win.
Nacional with a fourth loss in a row
The team with the worst current form in the league is Nacional, who lost their fourth game in a row at Paços de Ferreira. The hosts started off strongly and took the lead through a superb long-range effort from Luther Singh. The South African scored with another thunderous shot to make it 2-0 in a phase of the game when Nacional had started to threaten. Now the home team could withdraw a bit and leave the ball to Nacional. This resulted in 60% ball possession for Nacional and a game in which both teams had scoring chances. Bryan Róchez netted in stoppage time for the islanders, but it came too late. Nacional is now only two points ahead of a relegation zone.
Marítimo hit rock bottom
Sitting in the last place is Marítimo, who lost 2-0 at home to an impressive Moreirense. The visitors are probably definitively free from the relegation race and are sitting comfortably in seventh place. In the first half, Marítimo were initially the better team, but Moreirense made it 1-0 through Filipe Soares practically out of nowhere. The hosts were the slightly better team for the entire duration of the game, but could not score, despite a total of 15 shots. In the last minute it was Filipe Soares again who removed all doubts about the winners, making it 2-0.
Porto defeat Gil Vicente as expected
As expected, Gil Vicente lost the home game against FC Porto, 2-0. Porto left no doubts and started the first half very energetically. After just six minutes, Mateus Uribe took advantage of heavy Porto pressure to make it 1-0 and for the rest of the half Porto continued to pile forward and pushed Gil Vicente back, who somehow survived until the break without conceding any more goals. Sérgio Oliveira doubled the visitors’ lead and the resistance of Gil Vicente was broken, to leave them firmly mired in the relegation dogfight.
Belenenses loses the Lisbon duel
Belenenses put in a courageous performance against Benfica for the first 45 minutes, which remained goalless. The second half was a different story, and Benfica scored three goals in just ten minutes. Haris Seferovic gave Benfica a 2-0 lead with a brace and Lucas rounded off the victory with his first goal for the Eagles. Surprisingly, Belenenses ended up with 13 shots and more attacks than Benfica, but the home team failed to gain any points. Here it became clear again why Belenenses has the worst attack in the league with only 13 goals scored, and Petit’s team are now only three points ahead of the relegation zone.
Rio Ave settle their nerves
Always an unlikely candidate for relegation, Rio Ave are now able to breathe a little easier with the 2-0 home win over Farense to climb to ninth place in the table. Farense, on the other hand, are hovering dangerously down the standings, in 15th place. The game started openly and Farense had a slight ascendence in the first half, but a penalty from Pelé gave Rio Ave the lead. In the second half, however, the hosts built up more pressure and left no doubts. The 2-0 scoreline was completed by the resurgent Rafael Camacho. Farense are without a win in four games.
Exciting games in the coming round
The coming round has some exciting relegation duels in the offing. In Madeira, Nacional welcome Marítimo and a win for either team could prove priceless at the end of the season. Boavista will mainly focus on their defence away against Benfica. The same goes for Tondela in the home game against leaders Sporting. The duel between Farense and Belenenses can also be considered a 6-pointer in the battle against relegation. Gil Vicente will be looking to pull off a surprise away at Vitoria Guimaraes, while the round finishes off with troubled Famalicão and their new coach Ivo Vieira hosting Braga.
